AUTHOR=Schrijvers Karen , Cosma Alina , Potrebny Thomas , Thorsteinsson Einar , Catunda Carolina , Reiss Franziska , Hulbert Sabina , Kostičová Michaela , Melkumova Marina , Bersia Michela , Klanšček Helena Jeriček , Gaspar Tania , Dierckens Maxim 

TITLE=Three Decades of Adolescent Health: Unveiling Global Trends Across 41 Countries in Psychological and Somatic Complaints (1994–2022)

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 69 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2024.1607774

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2024.1607774

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Objectives: This study examined (non-)monotonic time trends in psychological and somatic complaints among adolescents, along with gender differences. Methods: Repeated cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) data from 1994 to 2022 covering 15-year-old adolescents from 41 countries (N= 470,797) were analysed. Three polynomial logistic regression models (cubic, quadratic, linear) were tested for best fit, including separate analyses by gender and health complaints dimension.Results: Time trend patterns varied by gender and health complaints dimension. Increases were found in 82.3% of cases (linear 25%, quadratic U-shaped 28.7%, cubic 28.7%), while 14% showed no clear trend, and 3.7% decreased. Boys typically showed linear increases or no clear trend over time, whereas girls generally showed cubic or U-shaped trends. Psychological complaints often displayed U-shaped or cubic patterns, whereas somatic complaints mostly showed linear increases.Psychological and somatic complaints demonstrated diverse time trend patterns across countries, with non-monotonic patterns (U-shaped and cubic) frequently observed alongside linear increases. These findings highlight the complexity of changes within countries over three decades, suggesting that linear modelling may not effectively capture this heterogeneity.