Adolescent mental health in relation to macroeconomic factors: protective and risk factors

On individual and family level, there is a socioeconomic gradient in mental ill health among children and adolescents. There are indications that also macroeconomic conditions could affect mental health of adolescents, but the character of the associations and the factors involved remain to be untangled. Of special importance is to explore potential protective and risk factors, which can be targets for intervention. The purpose of this project is to study the importance of macroeconomic factors and changes for the mental health of school-aged adolescents in high and middle-income countries, and the role of protective and risk factors on individual and national level. Data from the WHO survey Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC), performed every four years since 1983 among 11- 13- and 15-year olds across Europe and North America, will be combined with country-level data from international databases (ILO, UNDP, World Bank among others) regarding macroeconomic and social factors and unemployment levels. Mixed models, including random effects of country-year, will be used to test the relative importance of factors across time, between countries and between individuals. Potential protective and risk factors (i.e. moderating factors) on individual and national level, and their interaction, will be tested through interaction analyses.