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Cited by 52Adolescent Health and BehaviorsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentHealth and Well-being Studies

Self-reported physical and mental health status and quality of life in adolescents: a latent variable mediation model

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Sawatzky, Richard, Ratner, Pamela A, Johnson, Joy L, Kopec, Jacek A, Zumbo, Bruno D·2010·Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
DOI 10.1186/1477-7525-8-17PMC PMC2829530
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: We examined adolescents' differentiation of their self-reported physical and mental health status, the relative importance of these variables and five important life domains (satisfaction with family, friends, living environment, school and self) with respect to adolescents' global quality of life (QOL), and the extent to which the five life domains mediate the relationships between self-reported physical and mental health status and global QOL. METHODS: The data were obtained via a cross-sectional health survey of 8,225 adolescents in 49 schools in British Columbia, Canada. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the implied latent variable mediation model. The Pratt index (d) was used to evaluate variable importance. RESULTS: Relative to one another, self-reported mental health status was found to be more strongly associated with depressive symptoms, and self-reported physical health status more strongly associated with physical activity. Self-reported physical and mental health status and the five life domains explained 76% of the variance in global QOL. Relatively poorer mental health and physical health were significantly associated with lower satisfaction in each of the life domains. Global QOL was predominantly explained by three of the variables: mental health status (d = 30%), satisfaction with self (d = 42%), and satisfaction with family (d = 20%). Satisfaction with self and family were the predominant mediators of mental health and global QOL (45% total mediation), and of physical health and global QOL (68% total mediation). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides support for the validity and relevance of differentiating self-reported physical and mental health status in adolescent health surveys. Self-reported mental health status and, to a lesser extent, self-reported physical health status were associated with significant differences in the adolescents' satisfaction with their family, friends, living environment, school experiences, self, and their global QOL. Questions about adolescents' self-reported physical and mental health status and their experiences with these life domains require more research attention so as to target appropriate supportive services, particularly for adolescents with mental or physical health challenges.

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  • A longitudinal study of Canadian youth identified self-rated mental health as a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in midlife.

    “A longitudinal study of Canadian youth also identified SRMH as a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in midlife [12].”

    From Social inequalities in youth mental health in Canada, 2007–2022: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study (2025) · cites this paper as [12]

    The Results (Table 3; page unavailable) identify self-reported mental health as a statistically significant predictor of depressive symptoms. But the Methods describe a cross-sectional survey of Canadian adolescents, not a longitudinal study, and the paper measures depressive symptoms in adolescence rather than midlife. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Hayduk LA Lisrel: Issues, Debates, and Stragies 1996 London: The Johns Hopkins University Press
  2. Gilman R Validation of the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale with adolescents PhD thesis 1999 University of South Carolina, Department of Psychology

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Authors
Sawatzky, R., Ratner, P. A., Johnson, J. L., Kopec, J. A., & Zumbo, B. D.
Affiliations
  • Trinity Western University (CA)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
Corresponding author
Sawatzky, Richard
ORCID
Venue
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2010
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
17
ISSN
1477-7525 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1477-7525-8-17
PMC
PMC2829530
OpenAlex
W2120978392
Cited by
52
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2012: 9
FWCI
6.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Summit (Simon Fraser University) (submittedVersion)
  • cIRcle (University of British Columbia) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Summit (Simon Fraser University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Open Collections
Funders
  • Canadian Nurses Foundation
  • Michael Smith Health Research BC
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (62980, 62980_1)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Health and Behaviors
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Health and Well-being Studies
Keywords
adolescent health, self-reported physical health, self-rated mental health, quality of life, life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, physical activity, mediation
MeSH terms
Adolescent, British Columbia, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Health Status, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Models, Psychological, Personal Satisfaction, Quality of Life, Self-Assessment, Observer Variation

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