Browsing by Author "Gustafsson, Jasmine"

Mental health problems are increasing, and adolescents are particularly sensitive to the development of psychological complaints. The aim of this thesis was to find out if the experience of psychological complaints among Finnish-Swedish adolescents can be explained by their experience of family support, peer support, classmate support and loneliness. It was also examined whether associations between social support and psychological complaints can be explained by loneliness. In addition, it was investigated if there are differences in experiences of psychological complaints, social support and loneliness between Finnish-Swedish youth living in the city and in the countryside. A sample of 599 Finnish-Swedish youth from grades 5, 7 and 9 completed the Health Survey of School-aged Children (HBSC) in 2018. As statistical analysis methods of this thesis, Spearman's rank correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, mediation analysis, independent t-test and chi2 test were used. The results showed that family support and classmate support significantly and negatively predicted psychological complaints, that is, lower levels of family and classmate support was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Loneliness predicted psychological complaints significantly and positively, which means that higher levels of loneliness was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Peer support was not directly related to psychological complaints. Girls experienced psychological complaints to a significantly greater extent than boys according to several analyzes, and one of the analyzes also indicated that pupils in grade 9 experienced significantly higher levels of nervousness than pupils in grade 5. Among pupils in grades 7 and 9, those who lived in rural areas experienced more irritability or bad mood than those living in urban areas. Perceived socioeconomic status predicted psychological complaints significantly and negatively among pupils in grades 7 and 9. According to the results, the relationship between social support from family, peers and classmates, and psychological complaints could partly be explained by loneliness. There were no significant differences between Finnish-Swedish youth living in cities and those living in rural areas in terms of psychological complaints, social support or loneliness when pupils from all three grades were included in the analyzes. This thesis contributes to new knowledge about the well-being of Finnish-Swedish youth and could encourage development of health-promoting activities. Longitudinal research is needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of whether lower levels of social support and experiences of loneliness may be risk factors for the development of mental health problems.