Trends in levels of self-reported psychological distress among individuals who seek psychiatric services over eight years: a comparison between age groups in three population surveys in Stockholm County
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Psychiatric service use has increased in Sweden and in other developed countries, particularly among young people. Possible explanations include lower threshold for help-seeking among young people, but evidence is scarce. METHODS: We analysed the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Stockholm public health surveys for changes in the mean level of psychological distress among adult users of psychiatric in- and outpatient services in four age groups: 18-24, 25-44, 45-64 and ≥65 years. Psychological distress was measured via the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), using the Likert scoring method 0-1-2-3. In- and out-patient psychiatric service use within 6 months from the surveys was obtained from registers. RESULTS: The mean level of distress among young adults 18-24 years who utilize psychiatric services decreased between 2002 (mean GHQ-12 score, 95% confidence interval 20.5, 18.1-23.0) and 2010 (16.2, 14.6-17.7), while it remained fairly stable in older age groups. Results were similar in sex-stratified analyses, although the decrease was statistically significant only among young women 18-24 years. At the end of the follow-up, the level of distress among patients was similar for all age-groups. CONCLUSIONS: There were no differences between age groups in the level of distress when seeking care at the end of the follow-up period, supporting that there is no age-specific over- or under-consumption of psychiatric care in later years. However, the lowered threshold for help-seeking among young adults over time might have contributed to increases in psychiatric service use in the young age group. Public health policy and service delivery planning should consider the needs of the widening group of young users of psychiatric services.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A recent Swedish study found a lower threshold for seeking mental health care among young adults during recent years, however still at an equal level as the older age groups, indicating decreasing unmet needs among the young.
“A recent Swedish study found a lower threshold for seeking mental health care among young adults during recent years, however still at an equal level as the older age groups, indicating decreasing unmet needs among the young [21].”
From Trends in psychiatric diagnoses, medications and psychological therapies in a large Swedish region: A population-based study (2020) · cites this paper as [21]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The Validity of Two Versions of the GHQ in the WHO Study of Mental Illness in General Health Care
GOLDBERG, D. P., GATER, R., SARTORIUS, N., USTUN, T. B., PICCINELLI, M., GUREJE, O., & RUTTER, C. (1997) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291796004242 · Cited by 3,657 · see citing works
When and how do young people seek professional help for mental health problems?
Rickwood, D. J., Deane, F. P., & Wilson, C. J. (2007) · Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01334.x · Cited by 1,195 · see citing works
Annual Research Review: Secular trends in child and adolescent mental health
Collishaw, S. (2015) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12372 · Cited by 788 · see citing works
Help-seeking behaviour in men and women with common mental health problems: cross-sectional study
Oliver, M. I., Pearson, N., Coe, N., & Gunnell, D. (2005) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.186.4.297 · Cited by 558 · see citing works
Olfson, M., Blanco, C., Wang, S., Laje, G., & Correll, C. U. (2014) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.3074 · Cited by 449 · see citing works
Trends in Mental Health Care among Children and Adolescents
Olfson, M., Druss, B. G., & Marcus, S. C. (2015) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmsa1413512 · Cited by 408 · see citing works
Baxter, A. J., Scott, K. M., Ferrari, A. J., Norman, R. E., Vos, T., & Whiteford, H. A. (2014) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.22230 · Cited by 403 · see citing works
de Graaf, R., ten Have, M., van Gool, C., & van Dorsselaer, S. (2012) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-010-0334-8 · Cited by 390 · see citing works
Bonabi, H., Müller, M., Ajdacic-Gross, V., Eisele, J., Rodgers, S., Seifritz, E., Rössler, W., & Rüsch, N. (2016) · Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0000000000000488 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Collishaw, S., Maughan, B., Natarajan, L., & Pickles, A. (2010) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02252.x · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Zachrisson, H. D., Rödje, K., & Mykletun, A. (2006) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-34 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Childhood Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder in the NIMH MECA Study
Rapoport, J. L., Inoff‐Germain, G., Weissman, M. M., Greenwald, S., Narrow, W. E., Jensen, P. S., Lahey, B. B., & CANINO, G. J. (2000) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/s0887-6185(00)00048-7 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Lundin, A., Hallgren, M. Å., Theobald, H., Hellgren, C., & Torgén, M. (2016) · Public Health · doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2016.03.005 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Self-citationCohort Profile: The Stockholm Public Health Cohort
Svensson, A. C., Fredlund, P., Laflamme, L., Hallqvist, J., Alfredsson, L. S., Ekbom, A., Feychting, M., Forsberg, B. C., Pedersen, N. L., Vågerö, D. H., et al. (2012) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dys126 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Self-citationMcManus, S., Bebbington, P., Jenkins, R., & Brugha, T. S. (2016) · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Calibration as a Standard Method for Treatment of Nonresponse
Lundström, S. (1997) · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Acute Inpatient Care for Psychiatric Disorders in the United States, 1996 Through 2007
Blader, J. C. (2011) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.84 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Rothen, S., Vandeleur, C. L., Lustenberger, Y., Jeanprêtre, N., Ayer, E., Gamma, F., Halfon, O., Fornerod, D., Ferrero, F., & Preisig, M. (2009) · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1002/mpr.281 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
GHQ increases among Scottish 15 year olds 1987–2006
Sweeting, H., Young, R., & West, P. (2009) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-008-0462-6 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Meadows, G. N., & Burgess, P. M. (2009) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/00048670902970866 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Sigfusdottir, I. D., Asgeirsdottir, B. B., Sigurdsson, J. F., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (2008) · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1177/1403494807088457 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Sourander, A., Santalahti, P., Haavisto, A., Piha, J., Ikäheimo, K., & Helenius, H. Y. M. (2004) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000133261.75795.1a · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Lundin, A., Åhs, J. W., Åsbring, N., Kosidou, K., Dal, H., Tinghög, P., Saboonchi, F., & Dalman, C. (2016) · Nordic Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/08039488.2016.1246608 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationDepression treatment during outpatient visits by U.S. children and adolescents
Ma, J., Lee, K.-V., & Stafford, R. S. (2005) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.07.012 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Use of health services for major depressive and anxiety disorders in Finland
Hämäläinen, J., Isometsä, E., Sihvo, S., Pirkola, S., & Kiviruusu, O. (2008) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.20256 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Kosidou, K., Magnusson, C., Mittendorfer‐Rutz, E., Hallqvist, J., Hellner Gumpert, C., Idrizbegovic, S., Dal, H., & Dalman, C. (2010) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2009.01487.x · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Paradox of Mental Health: Over-Treatment and Under-Recognition
Editors, T. P. M. (2013) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001456 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Trends in U.S. Emergency Department Visits for Anxiety-Related Mental Health Conditions, 1992-2001
Smith, R., Larkin, G. L., & Southwick, S. M. (2008) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.4088/jcp.v69n0215 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
The General Health Questionnaire: how many items are really necessary in population surveys?
Jacobsen, B. K., Hasvold, T., Høyer, G., & Hansen, V. (1995) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700037442 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Fichter, M. M., Xepapadakos, F., Quadflieg, N., Georgopoulou, E., & Fthenakis, W. E. (2004) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-004-0450-0 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Sellers, R., Maughan, B., Pickles, A. R., Thapar, A., & Collishaw, S. (2014) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12273 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Pierce, M., Abel, K. M., Muwonge, J. J., Wicks, S., Nevriana, A., Hope, H. F., Dalman, C., & Kosidou, K. (2020) · The Lancet Public Health · doi:10.1016/s2468-2667(20)30202-4 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationForslund, T., Kosidou, K., Wicks, S., & Dalman, C. (2020) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-020-02749-z · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Self-citationKinon, B. J. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00757 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Automated screening for distress: A perspective for the future
Rana, R. K., Latif, S., Gururajan, R., Gray, A. D., Mackenzie, G., Humphris, G. M., & Dunn, J. C. (2019) · European Journal of Cancer Care · doi:10.1111/ecc.13033 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Perry, B. L., Smith, N. C., Coleman, M. E., & Pescosolido, B. A. (2023) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2023.307426 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Aberrant large-scale brain modules in deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia
Fan, L., Yu, M., Pinkham, A. E., Zhu, Y., Tang, X., Wang, X., Zhang, X., Ma, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, X., et al. (2021) · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110461 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Westberg, K. H., Nygren, J., Nyholm, M., Carlsson, I., & Svedberg, P. (2020) · Archives of Public Health · doi:10.1186/s13690-020-00471-6 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Trends in the utilization of youth primary healthcare services and psychological distress
Potrebny, T., Wiium, N., Haugstvedt, A., Sollesnes, R., Wold, B., & Thuen, F. (2021) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-021-06124-w · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Loewen, Á., Blasco-Fontecilla, H., Li, C., Bella-Fernández, M., & Ruíz‐Antorán, B. (2024) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/46515 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Adolescents’ mental health concerns, reported with an idiographic assessment tool
Tollefsen, T. K., Darrow, S. M., Neumer, S., & Berg‐Nielsen, T. S. (2020) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-020-00483-5 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Forsström, D., Lindner, P., Månsson, K. N. T., Ojala, O., Hedman‐Lagerlöf, M., Alaoui, S. E., Rozental, A., Lundin, J., Jangard, S., Shahnavaz, S., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1045709 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Better practice: health promotion in the music conservatoire
Matei, R. (2026) · e-space (Manchester Metropolitan University) · doi:10.83056/mmu.32479563 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Automated Screening for Distress: A Perspective for the FuturePreprint
Rana, R. K., Latif, S., Gururajan, R., Gray, A. D., Mackenzie, G., Humphris, G. M., & Dunn, J. C. (2019) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1902.09944
Tollefsen, T. K. (2020) · NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives
Forslund, T., Kosidou, K., Wicks, S., & Dalman, C. (2020) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.12577436
Self-citation
- Authors
- Kosidou, K., Lundin, A., Lewis, G., Fredlund, P., Dal, H., & Dalman, C.
- Affiliations
- Region Stockholm (SE)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kosidou, Kyriaki
- Venue
- BMC Psychiatry
- Published
- 2017-10-11
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 345-345
- ISSN
- 1471-244X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5637348
- OpenAlex
- W2761885630
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 3.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- BMC Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life and Welfare (DNR 2014-1743)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Keywords
- psychological distress, mental health service utilization, help-seeking, young adults, age differences, psychiatric inpatients and outpatients, Stockholm County, temporal trends, sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Help-Seeking Behavior, Adult, Aged, Ambulatory Care, Attitude to Health, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health Services, Middle Aged, Outpatients, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Stress, Psychological, Sweden, Young Adult, Self Report
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
