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Into the realm of social capital for adolescents: A latent profile analysis
Halmstad University, School of Health and Welfare, Centre of Research on Welfare, Health and Sport (CVHI).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0969-1288
Halmstad University, School of Health and Welfare, Centre of Research on Welfare, Health and Sport (CVHI).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4438-6673
Halmstad University, School of Health and Welfare, Centre of Research on Welfare, Health and Sport (CVHI).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4218-4499
Halmstad University, School of Health and Welfare, Centre of Research on Welfare, Health and Sport (CVHI). Glasgow Caledonian University in London, London, United Kingdom.
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2019 (English)In: PLOS ONE, E-ISSN 1932-6203, Vol. 14, no 2, article id e0212564Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background

Recent reports of increasing prevalence of frequent health complaints and mental health problems among adolescents call for directing more attention on determinants of adolescent health. The relationship between health and social capital has gained increased attention since the early 2000’s and research at review level confirms the importance of social capital for health outcomes, despite methodological heterogeneity. The aim of this study was to identify distinct profiles of family, school and peer social capital in a nationally representative sample of adolescents and to explore health outcomes in those profiles.

Method

Cross-sectional data from the Swedish Health Behaviour of School-aged Children 2013/14 was used for this study. The analytical sample consisted of 7,804 adolescents aged 11-, 13- and 15-years. Items representing sense of belonging and emotional support were assessed in three contexts; family, school and among peers. Latent profile analyses (LPA) were run to determine social capital profiles. Health outcomes included frequent health complaints and life satisfaction, while socioeconomic status and genders were included as predictors.

Results

The results show that five distinct profiles best represent the data for 11- and 15-year olds, while a four-profile model was optimal for 13-year olds. Some profiles were recurrent between age groups but unique profiles were also found. Health outcomes were significantly different between profiles depending on levels of social capital in the different contexts.

Conclusions

This study provides novel insight into how social capital co-occurs among adolescents within the contexts of family, school and peers and how this translates into differences in health outcomes. The national representativeness of the sample increases the implications of the results and contributes to meaningful insights that help explain the interactions of social capital in multiple contexts, complementing what is previously known about the relationship with adolescent health. © 2019 Ahlborg et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
San Francisco, CA: Public Library of Science , 2019. Vol. 14, no 2, article id e0212564
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-39476DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212564ISI: 000459330800040PubMedID: 30789947Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85061940871OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-39476DiVA, id: diva2:1318126
Funder
Knowledge FoundationAvailable from: 2019-05-26 Created: 2019-05-26 Last updated: 2022-02-09Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Social capital and inequalities in mental health among young adolescents in Sweden
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Social capital and inequalities in mental health among young adolescents in Sweden
2022 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The aim of this thesis was to explore social capital and inequalities in mental health among young adolescents in Sweden. This is a compilation thesis comprising four studies. Studies I and II are quantitative studies of crosssectional data from the Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. The aim of Study I was to investigate socioeconomic inequalities in health using both a subjective and an objective measure of socioeconomic status among Swedish adolescents. The findings showed that subjective socioeconomic status robustly and independently predicted mental health problems, poor life satisfaction and poor general health perception. The association between objective socioeconomic status and mental health was weakened, and even reversed, when subjective socioeconomic status was accounted for in regression models. A Latent Profile Analysis was applied in Study II with the aim of identifying distinct profiles of family, school and peer social capital in a nationally representative sample of adolescents and to explore health outcomes in those profiles. The findings showed that five distinct profiles best represented the data for 11 and 15-year olds, while a four-profile model was optimal for 13-year olds. Significant inequalities were identified between profiles when these were examined in terms of mental health problems and life satisfaction. The design of Study III was a qualitative semi-structured interview study. The aim was to explore social capital from the perspective of adolescents in relation to mental health. Adolescents spoke of having access to a safe space, feeling connected to others and predictability as important aspects of social relationships and networks in relation to mental health. The aim of Study IV was to identify and evaluate the design and psychometric properties of instruments for assessing social capital specifically developed and validated for self-reporting among adolescents (10-19 years). The design was a systematic review, in which 20 instruments were identified. The results revealed a lack of instruments that covered both the multidimensionality of social capital and contextual relevance in relation to adolescents. The conclusion from this thesis is that social capital may be useful for identifying vulnerable individuals and for differentiating between the natural imbalance of adolescence and what may lead to serious illness. Longitudinal research and refinement of the operationalization of the concept are, however, needed to enhance the understanding of these findings.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Halmstad: Halmstad University Press, 2022. p. 111
Keywords
Adolescence, Inequalities, Lifestyle, Mental health, Social capital, Socioeconomic status
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-46311 (URN)978-91-88749-81-9 (ISBN)978-91-88749-82-6 (ISBN)
Public defence
2022-03-04, S1002, Kristian IV:s väg 3, Halmstad, 09:15 (Swedish)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2022-02-10 Created: 2022-02-09 Last updated: 2023-01-10Bibliographically approved

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Ahlborg, MikaelSvedberg, PetraNyholm, MariaNygren, Jens M.

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