Influence of positive development opportunities on student well-being, depression and suicide risk: the New Zealand Youth Health and Well-being Survey 2012

Figures & data

Table 1. Mean depressive symptoms, well-being and suicide risk by demographic characteristic.

	Depressive symptoms^a				Well-being^b				Suicide risk^c
	N	Mean	95% CI	P	N	Mean	95% CI	P	N	Mean	95% CI	P
Total	4992	19.4	(19.2–19.6)		5059	16.4	(16.0, 16.7)		5117	1.21	(1.19, 1.23)
Sex				<.001				<.001				<.001
Female	2654	20.3	(20.0, 20.6)		2680	15.6	(15.2, 16.0)		2703	1.27	(1.25, 1.30)
Male	2336	18.3	(18.0, 18.6)		2377	17.2	(16.9, 17.5)		2412	1.14	(1.13, 1.16)
Age				<.001				<.001				<.001
13 and under	1114	18.8	(18.3, 19.3)		1115	17.3	(16.9, 17.8)		1146	1.17	(1.14, 1.20)
14	1115	19.0	(18.6, 19.5)		1127	16.6	(16.2, 17.1)		1138	1.21	(1.18, 1.25)
15	980	19.6	(19.2, 20.1)		1008	16.2	(15.6, 16.8)		1017	1.24	(1.20, 1.28)
16	940	20.1	(19.7, 20.5)		956	15.7	(15.3, 16.1)		962	1.25	(1.22, 1.28)
17 and over	834	19.6	(19.1, 20.0)		844	15.8	(15.3, 16.2)		845	1.20	(1.17, 1.24)
Ethnicity				.003				<.001				<.001
Māori	985	19.6	(19.1, 20.1)		999	16.4	(15.9, 16.8)		1015	1.26	(1.22, 1.30)
Asian	639	20.2	(19.6, 20.9)		645	15.8	(15.2, 16.5)		653	1.16	(1.12, 1.20)
Pacific	873	19.2	(18.7, 19.6)		896	17.7	(17.0, 18.3)		915	1.28	(1.23, 1.32)
European	2206	19.0	(18.7, 19.3)		2232	16.1	(15.8, 16.3)		2241	1.18	(1.16, 1.20)
Other	284	20.3	(19.5, 21.1)		283	15.6	(14.9, 16.3)		288	1.22	(1.15, 1.30)
Household deprivation				<.001				.02				<.001
Deprivation	1039	21.2	(20.5, 21.9)		1073	15.6	(14.7, 16.5)		1093	1.39	(1.33, 1.45)
No deprivation	3953	18.9	(18.6, 19.2)		3986	16.6	(16.3, 16.9)		4024	1.17	(1.15, 1.18)
Neighbourhood deprivation^d				.71				.01				.01
1 – Least deprived	970	19.2	(18.8, 19.6)		978	15.9	(15.5, 16.3)		982	1.18	(1.15, 1.21)
2	834	19.3	(18.8, 19.9)		839	16.2	(15.8, 16.5)		846	1.19	(1.15, 1.23)
3	896	19.5	(19.0, 19.9)		904	15.9	(15.6,16.3)		915	1.19	(1.16, 1.23)
4	910	19.6	(19.1, 20.1)		917	16.3	(15.9, 16.7)		930	1.22	(1.18, 1.26)
5 – Most deprived	1338	19.4	(19.1, 19.7)		1374	17.2	(16.6, 17.8)		1398	1.26	(1.22, 1.29)

^aRADS-SF score, range 0–35. A score above 28 indicates significant depressive symptoms.

^bWHO-5 well-being score, range 0–25. A score below 13 indicates poor well-being.

^cSuicide risk scale, range 1–4. Highly skewed toward low risk.

^dNZDep2013 quintiles.

Table 2. Neighbourhood participation and contribution by demographic characteristic.

	Helping others		Church group		Sports team		Cultural group		Volunteering		Employment		Arts		Adult to talk to
	%	P	%	P	%	P	%	P	%	P	%	P	%	P	%	P
Total	43.6		24.3		43.9		10.8		19.0		46.8		56.6		58.0
Sex		.03		<.001		<.001		<.001		.004		<.001		<.001		.05
Female	45.1		27.4		38.6		12.8		20.5		43.6		65.1		59.2
Male	41.7		20.7		50.1		8.4		17.3		50.4		46.8		56.5
Age		<.001		.58		.002		.72		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001
13 and under	39.4		24.7		46.1		10.4		15.3		37.2		58.6		53.6
14	40.4		24.2		47.4		11.4		17.3		40.0		59.6		58.4
15	42.2		25.7		43.7		10.5		19.4		46.8		57.8		54.7
16	45.1		24.2		40.5		9.9		21.5		55.3		55.1		60.2
17 and over	51.7		22.3		40.2		11.7		23.0		58.8		50.6		64.2
Ethnicity		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001
Māori	55.1		17.6		44.7		13.5		15.5		48.7		56.7		59.8
Asian	44.1		24.4		31.1		13.1		19.6		31.1		59.4		47.0
Pacific	56.4		54.3		39.8		27.1		12.5		26.9		71.2		52.3
European	35.3		15.4		49.4		3.1		22.4		58.9		49.5		62.3
Other	39.1		24.3		39.9		6.8		22.1		41.7		60.9		59.0
Household deprivation		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001
Deprivation	53.6		37.9		34.7		19.5		15.2		34.6		63.9		52.8
No deprivation	41.3		20.7		46.3		8.5		20.0		50.0		54.7		59.3
Neighbourhood deprivation^a		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		<.001		.09
1 – Least deprived	36.5		13.3		55.3		6.2		22.0		56.4		53.0		59.9
2	37.8		19.2		43.6		5.9		20.4		54.3		52.7		60.6
3	39.2		20.6		46.6		7.1		19.6		51.5		53.4		58.7
4	47.0		22.5		38.3		11.6		20.6		44.3		56.2		56.0
5 – Most deprived	55.4		39.6		37.2		19.4		14.5		33.2		64.3		55.8

^aNZDep2013 quintiles.

Table 3. Neighbourhood measures.

Measures of participation and contribution	Number of neighbourhoods	Mean percentage	Range	SEM	ICC^a (%)
Helping others	266	44.0	10.00–90.91	1.01	3.5
Church group	266	23.7	0–90.91	1.04	14.4
Sports team	266	44.2	9.52–88.24	0.94	4.3
Cultural group	266	10.2	0–45.45	0.61	13.6
Volunteering	266	19.4	0–69.23	0.70	4.0
Employment	266	48.1	5.00–100	1.15	10.2
Arts	266	56.1	20.00–100	0.87	2.7
Adult to talk to	266	58.3	23.08–100	0.82	2.7

^aICC, a measure of homogeneity.

Table 4. Fixed effects estimates for models of the predictors of students’ RADS-SF scores, WHO-5 well-being score and suicide risk.

	Depressive symptoms		Well-being		Suicide risk
	Estimate (SEM)	P	Estimate (SEM)	P	Estimate (SEM)	P
Helping others	−0.67 (0.64)	.30	1.66 (0.59)	.005	−0.04 (0.05)	.45
Church group	0.21 (0.67)	.76	1.77 (0.62)	.005	0.02 (0.05)	.689
Sports team	−1.22 (0.67)	.07	1.25 (0.63)	.05	−0.07 (0.05)	.176
Cultural group	−0.87 (1.08)	.42	1.57 (1.01)	.12	−0.03 (0.09)	.72
Volunteering	0.02 (0.86)	.98	−0.28 (0.81)	.73	0.00 (0.07)	.95
Employment	−0.11 (0.58)	.86	0.08 (0.54)	.88	0.08 (0.05)	.07
Arts	−1.09 (0.72)	.13	0.94 (0.68)	.17	−0.07 (0.06)	.20
Adult to talk to	−0.89 (0.75)	.23	1.20 (0.70)	.09	−0.01 (0.06)	.86

Note: Adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, household deprivation and neighbourhood deprivation quintile.

Figure 1. WHO-5 well-being score estimate by neighbourhood quartile: helping others.

Figure 2. WHO-5 well-being score estimate by neighbourhood quartile: participation in church groups.

Figure 3. WHO-5 well-being score estimate by neighbourhood quartile: participation in sports teams.