Journal
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 39, Issue 1, Pages 58-63Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1403494810375491
Keywords
Adolescents; long-term effects; mental distress; mental healing; negative life experiences
Categories
Funding
- Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation
- Norwegian Institute of Public Health
- University of Oslo
- City of Oslo (baseline)
- Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway, Oslo
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Aims: The aim of this study is to examine the possible changes in depressive symptoms related to various adverse experiences, based on a three-year follow-up among adolescents. Methods: All 10(th) graders invited to enter the youth section of the Oslo Health Study 2001 (n = 3,811) constituted a baseline of a longitudinal study. A high level of mental distress (Hscl-10 score >= 1.85) according to the different life experiences was compared, at baseline (15 years) and follow-up (18 years). Results: All adverse experiences were associated with a high Hscl-10 score except parents not living together and death of a close person at 15 and 18 years for boys, and death of a close person at 18 years of age for girls. A development from high Hscl-10 score at baseline to low score at follow up was defined as recovery from mental distress. The proportion of the youth that had a high Hscl-10 score related to reporting adverse life experiences at age 15, followed by a low Hscl-10 score three years later proved to be between 44% and 89% among boys and between 16% and 31% among girls. Conclusions: From a three year longitudinal perspective the recovery from mental distress is substantial and higher among boys than among girls. However, mental distress seems to persist in a considerable proportion of the adolescents. Consequently, it is insufficient to brush aside traumas and hurt and rely on a time healing process only.
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