Are Worries, Satisfaction with Oneself and Outlook in Secondary School Students Associated with Mental Health in Early Adulthood?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find factors that can be identified in adolescence and are associated with mental health symptoms in early adulthood. Data pertaining to worries, satisfaction with oneself and outlook were collected from 14-year-old adolescents in 1996 (N = 235), using a structured questionnaire. Mental health data were collected in 2006 from the same people at the age of 24 years, using the SCL-90 instrument, with a response rate of 63.4% (N = 149). Adolescents’ worries about family finances and conflicts at home were associated with mental health problems in later life in both genders. Worries about achievement at school and parental unemployment in females, and lack of friends and busy parents in males, were associated with mental health problems at the age of 24. Adolescents’ perceptions of their worries, satisfaction with oneself and outlook are important factors to consider in attempts to promote mental health.

Keywords:

• adolescence
• mental health
• early adulthood
• long-term study