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Cited by 68Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentMental Health Treatment and AccessMental Health Research Topics

The increase in symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood among Icelandic adolescents: Time trend between 2006 and 2016

Thorisdottir, Ingibjorg E., Asgeirsdottir, Bryndis B., Sigurvinsdottir, Rannveig, Allegrante, John P., Sigfusdottir, Inga D.·2017·European Journal of Public Health
DOI 10.1093/eurpub/ckx111
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Abstract

Background: Both research and popular media reports suggest that adolescent mental health has been deteriorating across societies with advanced economies. This study sought to describe the trends in self-reported symptoms of depressed mood and anxiety among Icelandic adolescents. Methods: Data for this study come from repeated, cross-sectional, population-based school surveys of 43 482 Icelandic adolescents in 9th and 10th grade, with six waves of pooled data from 2006 to 2016. We used analysis of variance, linear regression and binomial logistic regression to examine trends in symptom scores of anxiety and depressed mood over time. Gender differences in trends of high symptoms were also tested for interactions. Results: Linear regression analysis showed a significant linear increase over the course of the study period in mean symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood for girls only; however, symptoms of anxiety among boys decreased. The proportion of adolescents reporting high depressive symptoms increased by 1.6% for boys and 6.8% for girls; the proportion of those reporting high anxiety symptoms increased by 1.3% for boys and 8.6% for girls. Over the study period, the odds for reporting high depressive symptoms and high anxiety symptoms were significantly higher for both genders. Girls were more likely to report high symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood than boys. Conclusions: Self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood have increased over time among Icelandic adolescents. Our findings suggest that future research needs to look beyond mean changes and examine the trends among those adolescents who report high symptoms of emotional distress.

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Crossref · 10.1093/eurpub/ckx111

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  • An increase in the prevalence of mental health problems and suicide among young people has been reported in other countries.

    “An increase in the prevalence of mental health problems and suicide among young people has also been reported in other countries (Padmanathan, Bould, Winstone, Moran, & Gunnell, 2020;Pitchforth et al., 2018;Thorisdottir, Asgeirsdottir, Sigurvinsdottir, Allegrante, & Sigfusdottir, 2017;Wiens et al., 2020).”

    From The relationship between screen time and mental health in young people: A systematic review of longitudinal studies (2021) · cites this paper as Thorisdottir et al., 2017

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Authors
Thorisdottir, I. E., Asgeirsdottir, B. B., Sigurvinsdottir, R., Allegrante, J. P., & Sigfusdottir, I. D.
Affiliations
Columbia University (US)
ORCID
Allegrante, John P.
Venue
European Journal of Public Health
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2017-07-27
Volume
27
Issue
5
Pages
856-861
ISSN
  • 1101-1262 (ISSN-L)
  • 1464-360X
DOI
10.1093/eurpub/ckx111
OpenAlex
W2737100272
Cited by
68
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2
FWCI
4.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • European Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Opin vísindi (Opin vísindi) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
Keywords
adolescent mental health, anxiety symptoms, depressive mood, depressive symptoms, temporal trends, gender differences, Icelandic adolescents, school-based survey, emotional distress
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Psychology, Adolescent, Anxiety Disorders, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Forecasting, Humans, Iceland, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors

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