Browsing by Subject "varhaisaikuisuus"
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(2015)Objectives: Optimism is usually defined as a stable outcome expectancy. Optimism is known to be positively connected to well-being and health but there are few studies to examine the development of optimism. Traumatic experiences are known to have various negative effects on well-being and mental health. There are also studies that show an association between traumas and personality development and change. Because optimism and pessimism are thought to be concepts similar to personality traits, it is justifiable to study if traumas are also related to optimism and/or pessimism. There are no studies to investigate this earlier. The aim of this study is to examine whether lifetime trauma experiences are associated with optimism-pessimism in early adulthood and whether different traumas or the age of trauma experience have differential effects. Methods: This study is part of the Arvo Ylppö Longitudinal Study (AYLS). All newborns born between 1985 and 1986 in the county of Uusimaa, Finland, who needed hospital care during ten days after birth were invited to participate. Also controls not admitted to the hospital wards were recruited. The current 25-year-old follow-up study consisted of 902 participants who completed a self-report questionnaire for optimism (LOT-R) and a retrospective self-report for traumatic experiences (TEC). The associations between lifetime traumas and optimism-pessimism in early adulthood were analyzed statistically using linear regression and analysis of variance and t tests when examining different groups for the amount of traumas and for different age groups. Results and conclusions: Reporting of any traumatic experience was associated to lower optimism and higher pessimism. The more traumatic experiences one had the lower was optimism and the higher was pessimism. By contrast, the age of traumatic experiences was not statistically significantly associated with the trait of optimism-pessimism. These results remained after controlling demographic variables. However, after controlling neuroticism, only the connection between emotional traumas and optimism-pessimism remained statistically significant. Because optimism and pessimism are known to have an impact on well-being and coping in future adversities, the association between traumas and optimism-pessimism can be considered noteworthy. The results of this study give ground for discussion about whether optimism interventions could be targeted to people who have experienced traumatic events to reduce the negative effects of trauma.
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(2019)Divorces have been relatively common in Finland since the 1980s. In 2005–2016 the crude divorce rate varied between 2.4 and 2.6 per 1000 whereas in Europe the rate was on average 1.8–2.1 during the same years. Due to the high divorce rates, it is important to study the consequences of parental separation on child psychological well-being. Most studies from recent decades have found significant but usually modest associations between parental separation and child behavioral and emotional problems, malaise, anxiety and forms of depression. Also some evidence for causal links between parental separation and child’s mental health has been found, but the effects are likely to vary a lot. Firstly, due to selection effect, the poorer mental health outcomes among children from separated families are also affected by other family circumstances than the separation. Secondly, based on the so-called compensation theory, recent research has discussed the potential compensating role of parents’ socioeconomic resources. However, only a limited amount of register-based studies have investigated how the impacts of parental separation for child mental health vary by parents’ socioeconomic resources. This Master’s thesis studies the association between parental separation and depressive symptoms, measured by antidepressant use, in adolescence and young adulthood. It also provides an extensive analysis of how families are selected into separation by early family circumstances, and how strongly these circumstances contribute to the risk of depressive symptoms. Finally, the study examines whether the parental education, an indicator of social and economic resources, modifies the association between parental separation and depressive symptoms. The study uses register-linked panel data that is based on a 20 % random sample of Finnish households with at least one child aged 0–14 at the end of 2000. The final study population included birth cohorts 1990–97 (N=70,478) that were followed for antidepressant use between ages 15–21 in years 2005–2012. The data comprises information on social, demographic and economic characteristics of the families together with data on psychotropic drug purchases among both parents and offspring. The associations between parental separation and antidepressant use were analyzed with Cox regression model. In line with most of the previous research, parental separation was moderately associated with depressive symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood. In the unadjusted model children with an experience of parental separation had 1.6 times (HR) higher risk of antidepressant use at age of 15–21. Considering selection, the fully adjusted model showed a significant association, almost as strong as the unadjusted model (HR 1.45). For the risk of antidepressant use, the early family circumstances were on average less favorable in the families that separated. However, the family socioeconomic circumstances, previous psychotropic drug use, parental age and marital status and child’s sex explained a minor part of the increased risk of antidepressant use among children from separated families. In the moderation analysis, the association between parental separation and child depression was moderately stronger in families where parents had completed only basic education. The result is in line with the compensation theory, but cannot be generalized to a larger population, because the differences between educational groups in the main association were not statistically significant. The study suggests that the increased risk for depressive symptoms after parental separation is partly caused by the measured and unmeasured selection. The increased risk is also likely to be partly caused by the parental separation itself. In the study population the parental separation appears to have been less detrimental to children whose separating parents have more socioeconomic resources that compensate and obviate the negative consequences for child mental health.
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(2019)Divorces have been relatively common in Finland since the 1980s. In 2005–2016 the crude divorce rate varied between 2.4 and 2.6 per 1000 whereas in Europe the rate was on average 1.8–2.1 during the same years. Due to the high divorce rates, it is important to study the consequences of parental separation on child psychological well-being. Most studies from recent decades have found significant but usually modest associations between parental separation and child behavioral and emotional problems, malaise, anxiety and forms of depression. Also some evidence for causal links between parental separation and child’s mental health has been found, but the effects are likely to vary a lot. Firstly, due to selection effect, the poorer mental health outcomes among children from separated families are also affected by other family circumstances than the separation. Secondly, based on the so-called compensation theory, recent research has discussed the potential compensating role of parents’ socioeconomic resources. However, only a limited amount of register-based studies have investigated how the impacts of parental separation for child mental health vary by parents’ socioeconomic resources. This Master’s thesis studies the association between parental separation and depressive symptoms, measured by antidepressant use, in adolescence and young adulthood. It also provides an extensive analysis of how families are selected into separation by early family circumstances, and how strongly these circumstances contribute to the risk of depressive symptoms. Finally, the study examines whether the parental education, an indicator of social and economic resources, modifies the association between parental separation and depressive symptoms. The study uses register-linked panel data that is based on a 20 % random sample of Finnish households with at least one child aged 0–14 at the end of 2000. The final study population included birth cohorts 1990–97 (N=70,478) that were followed for antidepressant use between ages 15–21 in years 2005–2012. The data comprises information on social, demographic and economic characteristics of the families together with data on psychotropic drug purchases among both parents and offspring. The associations between parental separation and antidepressant use were analyzed with Cox regression model. In line with most of the previous research, parental separation was moderately associated with depressive symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood. In the unadjusted model children with an experience of parental separation had 1.6 times (HR) higher risk of antidepressant use at age of 15–21. Considering selection, the fully adjusted model showed a significant association, almost as strong as the unadjusted model (HR 1.45). For the risk of antidepressant use, the early family circumstances were on average less favorable in the families that separated. However, the family socioeconomic circumstances, previous psychotropic drug use, parental age and marital status and child’s sex explained a minor part of the increased risk of antidepressant use among children from separated families. In the moderation analysis, the association between parental separation and child depression was moderately stronger in families where parents had completed only basic education. The result is in line with the compensation theory, but cannot be generalized to a larger population, because the differences between educational groups in the main association were not statistically significant. The study suggests that the increased risk for depressive symptoms after parental separation is partly caused by the measured and unmeasured selection. The increased risk is also likely to be partly caused by the parental separation itself. In the study population the parental separation appears to have been less detrimental to children whose separating parents have more socioeconomic resources that compensate and obviate the negative consequences for child mental health.
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(2014)Objectives: Overweight is a common health problem in children, adolescents and adults. Its effects on somatic well-being are well known, but the knowledge of its relationship with mental health is contradictory. The connections are likely to be stronger in studies that have studied adolescents who are receiving treatment to obesity. It is important to study what kinds of risk factors there are for psychiatric symptoms and substance use in adolescence and early adulthood. This master's thesis studies whether overweight and obesity are in connection with psychiatric symptoms and substance use in adolescents and young adults who have received treatment to obesity in childhood. Methods: This study is a part of Elintavat ja luusto nuorilla (ELLU) research project. The patient group consisted of adolescents and young adults who have received treatment to severe or morbid obesity in childhood. The control group consisted of normal weight adolescents and young adults of a similar age. The study involved 42 14-19-year-old adolescents (22 patients, 20 controls) and 62 17-24-year-old young adults (27 patients, 35 controls). Information about psychiatric symptoms and substance use was collected using the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Adult Self-Report (ASR) assessment forms. The data was analyzed using covariance analysis, linear regression analysis and logistic regression analysis. Results and conclusions: The overweight and obese adolescents had more total problems, internalizing problems, somatic problems, attention problems and social problems. Gender was significant in social problems: overweight and obese girls had more social problems than normal weight girls, but among boys there were not differences between the groups. In young adults overweight and obesity were not in connection with psychiatric symptoms. Gender had no importance in this connection. The overweight and obese young adults had 3.77-fold increased risk of smoking compared to normal weight young adults. Overweight and obesity are thus connected to psychiatric symptoms in adolescence and tobacco smoking in early adulthood. Conclusions about causality cannot be drawn based on this study. Information about overweight's and obesity's connections with mental health and substance use may help in treatment planning. It may as well increase the desire to draw attention to overweight children and adolescents early enough.
Now showing items 1-4 of 4