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Aim: Adults born preterm have increased risk of mental health problems and other neurodevelopmental conditions. We aimed to investigate associations of mental health with pain and tiredness in adults born very preterm (VP; <32 weeks) or very low birthweight (VLBW; <1500 g) and at term, and whether these associations are influenced by physical activity., Methods: As part of an EU Horizon 2020 project, individual participant data from six prospective cohort studies were harmonised for 617 VP/VLBW and 1122 term-born participants. Mental health was assessed by the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment Adult Self-Report. Pain and tiredness were harmonised based on specific items from self-reported questionnaires. Associations between mental health and pain or tiredness were explored by linear regression., Results: An increase in the mental health scales internalising, externalising and total problems was associated with increased pain and tiredness in the preterm and term group alike. Results were maintained when adjusting for physical activity., Conclusion: The findings indicate that associations between mental health, pain and tiredness in adults are independent of gestation or birthweight. Future research should explore other potential mechanisms that may underlie the increased risk of mental health problems in the preterm population., (© 2023 The Authors. Acta Paediatrica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation Acta Paediatrica.)

Objective: Psychosocial interventions for children's mental health problems typically differ in several characteristics, such as therapist training, content, motivation for treatment, and extent of comorbid conditions among patients, depending on whether the interventions take place in clinical research studies or in real-life settings. Accordingly, the effects found in research studies may not be generalizable to typical service provision. The authors sought to examine the potential associations between receiving usual care and later psychiatric symptoms, impairment, and potential improvements in social skills., Methods: Participants (N=996) drawn from the 2003-2004 birth cohorts in Trondheim, Norway, included children who received usual care and those who did not receive any services (as a control group). The children were assessed with biennial clinical interviews from ages 4 to 14 years. Random intercept, cross-lagged panel models were combined with propensity scoring to adjust for measured time-varying and all unmeasured time-invariant confounders., Results: Usual care was not associated with alterations in social skills or impairment due to mental health problems. Similarly, usual care provided to 7- to 12-year-olds did not predict changes in the number of symptoms of psychiatric disorders. However, usual care received at ages 0-4 and 5-6 predicted a slight increase in the number of psychiatric symptoms 2 years later. No significant associations between usual care and improved outcomes were detected., Conclusions: These observational findings reveal the need to implement existing evidence-based approaches in usual care and to develop evidence-based approaches to the complex cases often seen in specialty and community care systems., Competing Interests: The authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Background: Residential youth care (RYC) institutions aim to provide care and stability for vulnerable adolescents with several previous and present challenges, such as disrupted attachments, wide-ranging adverse childhood experiences, mental health problems, and poor quality of life (QoL). To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to provide knowledge of the associations between perceived social support and QoL and to explore the potential moderating effect of perceived social support on QoL for adolescents who have experienced maltreatment and polyvictimization., Methods: All RYC institutions with adolescents between the ages 12-23 in Norway were asked to participate in the study. A total of 86 institutions housing 601 adolescents accepted the invitation, from which 400 adolescents volunteered to participate. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Interview was used to gather information on maltreatment histories and degree of victimization; the Kinder Lebensqualität Fragebogen was used to measure QoL through several domains (overall QoL, physical well-being, emotional well-being, and self-esteem); and the Social Support Questionnaire was used to measure perceived social support. Linear regression and independent samples t-test were used to study the associations between perceived social support and QoL as well as the potential moderating effect of perceived social support in the association between maltreatment history and QoL., Results: Perceived social support was positively associated with QoL for both girls and boys, with domain-specific findings. A higher number of different types of support persons was associated with overall QoL, emotional well-being, and self-esteem for boys, but only with self-esteem for girls. Individual social support from RYC staff and friends was associated with higher QoL for girls. However, perceived social support did not moderate the association between maltreatment history and reduced QoL for either sex., Conclusions: This study emphasizes the importance of maintaining social support networks for adolescents living in RYC, the crucial contribution of RYC staff in facilitating social support, and the potential value of social skills training for these vulnerable adolescents. Furthermore, a wider range of initiatives beyond social support must be carried out to increase QoL among adolescents with major maltreatment and polyvictimization experiences.

Background: Being born with very low birth weight (VLBW: ≤ 1,500 g) is related to long-term disability and neurodevelopmental problems, possibly affecting mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, studies in young adulthood yield mixed findings. The aim of this study was to examine mental health and HRQoL at 23 years, including changes from 20 to 23 years and associations with motor skills in VLBW young adults compared with controls., Methods: In a geographically based follow-up study, 35 VLBW and 37 term-born young adults were assessed at 23 years by using Achenbach Adult Self-Report (ASR), Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and various motor tests. The ASR and SF-36 were also used at 20 years. Longitudinal changes in ASR and SF-36 from 20 to 23 years were analysed by linear mixed models and associations with motor skills at 23 years by linear regression., Results: At 23 years, total ASR score was 38.6 (SD: 21.7) in the VLBW group compared with 29.0 (SD: 18.6) in the control group (p = 0.048). VLBW participants had higher scores for attention problems, internalizing problems and critical items, and they reported to drink less alcohol than controls. BDI total score did not differ between groups. On SF-36, VLBW participants reported significantly poorer physical and social functioning, more role-limitations due to physical and emotional problems, more bodily pain and lower physical and mental component summaries than controls. In the VLBW group, total ASR score increased by 9.0 (95 % CI: 3.3 to 14.7) points from 20 to 23 years (p = 0.009 vs controls), physical and mental component summaries of SF-36 decreased by 2.9 (95 % CI: -4.8 to -1.1) and 4.4 (95 % CI: -7.1 to -1.7) points, respectively (p = 0.012 and p = 0.022 vs controls). Among VLBW participants, more mental health problems and lower physical and mental HRQoL were associated with poorer motor skills at 23 years., Conclusions: VLBW young adults reported poorer and declining mental health and HRQoL in the transitional phase into adulthood. They seemed to have a cautious lifestyle with more internalizing problems and less alcohol use. The associations of mental health problems and HRQoL with motor skills are likely to reflect a shared aetiology.

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether psychosocial functioning in adulthood (e.g., friends support, cohabitation, community connectedness and work satisfaction) could be predicted by mental health, subjective well-being, social relations and behavior problems in adolescence, and whether gender was a moderator in these associations. Data were obtained from a major population-based Norwegian study, the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), in which 517 men and 819 women completed an extensive self-report questionnaires at baseline (mean age 14.4 years) and at follow-up (mean age 26.9 years). Community connectedness as well as work satisfaction were predicted by subjective well-being. Cohabitation was predicted by male gender and frequency of meeting friends in adolescence, and friends support was predicted by frequency of meeting friends. Gender had a minor effect as a moderator. Frequency of meeting friends and subjective well-being seemed to be the strongest adolescent predictors of psychosocial functioning in young adulthood. These findings may have implications both for prevention and intervention in adolescence, as well as for future research., (© 2013 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.)

Background: Being born with low birth weight may have an impact on different aspects of mental health, psychosocial functioning and well-being; however results from studies in young adulthood have so far yielded mixed findings. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term impact in young adulthood on self-reported mental health, health-related quality of life, self-esteem and social relations by investigating differences between two low birth weight groups and a control group., Methods: In a follow-up at 20 years of age, 43 preterm VLBW (birth weight ≤ 1500 g), 55 term SGA (birth weight < 10th percentile) and 74 control subjects completed the Adult Self-Report (ASR) of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment, the Adult Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Short Form 36 Health Survey, the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents-Revised, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligent Scale III assessment., Results: The VLBW and SGA groups reported significantly more mental health problems than controls. The VLBW group predominantly had internalizing problems, and the non-significant association with ASR Total score was reduced by the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The SGA group had increased scores on both internalizing and externalizing problems, and the association with ASR Total score remained significant after adjusting for IQ in this group. Both low birth weight groups reported less interaction with friends and lower quality of life related to mental health domains than controls. Self-esteem scores were lower than in the control group for athletic competence (VLBW) and social acceptance (SGA)., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that self-reported mental health and well-being in young adulthood may be adversely affected by low birth weight, irrespective of whether this is the result of premature birth or being born SGA at term.

Background and Aims: Self-rated health is an important health predictor, and it has only rarely been studied in adolescents. This study examined the relationships between self-rated health and a broad spectrum of structural, medical, psychological, and social variables. The association between these variables and negative health rating through to good health rating versus good to very good health rating was also compared., Methods: Analyses were based on cross-sectional data from the Young-HUNT II study in Norway. A total of 2,800 students aged 16 to 20 years participated, with a response rate of 81%. Separate logistic regression analyses for each gender were performed for a broad set of independent variables with self-rated health as the dependent variable. The effect of the variables at the negative (poor/not good) and positive (very good) ends of the scale were estimated and compared., Results: Self-rated health in adolescence was significantly associated with a broad spectrum of independent variables reflecting medical, social, and personal factors. The associations were also present in multivariate analyses controlling for the interrelations between the independent variables. The negative and positive ends of the scale were affected in much the same way. The association with general well-being was especially strong., Conclusions: Adolescents conceptualize health as a construct related to medical, psychological, social, and lifestyle factors. Positive rating of health was affected in a similar manner to negative rating. However, the absolute importance of hampering positive health may be greater because of the higher prevalence of such health ratings.

BackgroundThe aim is to examine associations between bullying involvement in adolescence and mental health problems in adulthood.MethodsInformation on bullying-involvement (being bullied, bully-victim, aggressive toward others) and non-involved was collected from 2464 adolescents in Mid-Norway at mean age 13.7 and again at mean age 14.9. Information about mental health problems and psychosocial functioning was collected about 12 years later at mean age 27.2 (n = 1266).ResultsAll groups involved in bullying in young adolescence had adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood compared to non-involved. Those being bullied were affected especially regarding increased total sum of depressive symptoms and high levels of total, internalizing and critical symptoms, increased risk of having received help for mental health problems, and reduced functioning because of a psychiatric problem in adulthood. While those being aggressive toward others showed high levels of total and internalizing symptoms. Both those being bullied and bully-victims showed an increased risk of high levels of critical symptoms. Lastly, all groups involved in bullying on adolescence had increased risk of psychiatric hospitalization because of mental health problems.ConclusionInvolvement in bullying in adolescence is associated with later mental health problems, possibly hindering development into independent adulthood.