AUTHOR=Wahlström Joakim , Modin Bitte , Svensson Johan , Löfstedt Petra , Brolin Låftman Sara 

TITLE=Sense of Unity and Self-Reported Health Among 15-year-Olds: Findings From the Swedish 2017/18 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children Study

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 66 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2021.621964

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2021.621964

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Background: Sense of unity refers to the positive feeling of being part of a larger social structure. A high sense of unity is believed to provide adolescents with a sense of common good, promote positive development, and foster mental health, over and above the effects of tangible social relationships. The present study's aims were, firstly, to investigate to what extent 15-year-olds report sense of unity; secondly, to examine differences in sense of unity by sociodemographic characteristics and by family, classmate, and teacher relationships; and thirdly, to assess the associations between sense of unity and different aspects of self-reported health whilst adjusting for sociodemographic background characteristics and family, classmate, and teacher relationships.
Methods: Data were obtained from the 2017/18 Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)  (n=1,392). Sense of unity was constructed as an index of eight items, which was skewed towards higher values and therefore trichotomized. Psychological and somatic complaints were measured by indices based on four items each, whereas less than good self-rated health was captured by a binary measure. Chi-square tests were used to examine if  sense of unity was associated with sociodemographic background characteristics and  family, classmate, and teacher relationships. Regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between sense of unity and self-reported health.
Results: The participants reported overall high levels of sense of unity. While sense of unity did not differ by gender, adolescents without an immigrant background and those with higher family affluence reported higher levels. Strong family, classmate, and teacher relationships were also linked with higher levels of sense of unity. Sense of unity was inversely associated with psychological complaints, somatic complaints, and less than good self-rated health, even when adjusting for sociodemographic background characteristics and family, classmate, and teacher relationships.
Conclusions: This study suggests that sense of unity, in terms of feelings of being part of a larger social structure, may be an important social determinant for adolescent health. Policies aiming towards increasing adolescents’ sense of unity could be a way to counteract and prevent psychological health problems. More research is needed on the origins and implications of sense of unity.