1. Typologies of Joint Family Activities and Associations With Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Adolescents From Four Countries
- Author
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Kate Parker, Britt Hallingberg, Charli Eriksson, Kwok Ng, Zdenek Hamrik, Jaroslava Kopcakova, Eva Movsesyan, Marina Melkumova, Shynar Abdrakhmanova, and Petr Badura
- Subjects
Male ,youth ,family ,Adolescent ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,global survey ,organized activities ,leisure time ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Leisure Activities ,Mental Health ,Adolescent Behavior ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Humans ,Female ,Self Report ,Sports science and exercise ,Child ,4207 Sports science and exercise - Abstract
Purpose This study aims to identify distinct typologies of joint family activities and the associations with mental health and wellbeing among adolescents across four countries from the World Health Organization European region. Methods The 2017/2018 data from adolescents from Armenia (n = 3,977, Mage = 13.5 ± 1.6 years, 53.4% female), Czechia (n = 10,656, Mage = 13.4 ± 1.7, 50.1% female), Russia (n = 4,096, Mage = 13.8 ± 1.7, 52.4% female), and Slovakia (n = 3,282, Mage = 13.4 ± 1.5, 51.0% female) were collected in schools. The respondents self-reported their participation in joint family leisure-time activities, life satisfaction, psychological and somatic complaints, as well as a range of demographic and family situational factors. Stratified by countries, latent class analysis identified typologies of joint family activities, and logistic regression models explored cross-sectional associations with life satisfaction, and psychological and somatic complaints. Results Three typologies were identified across each of the four countries, distinguished by low, moderate, and high levels of family engagement. Adolescents with higher family engagement generally reported greater life satisfaction and fewer psychological complaints compared to those with lower family engagement. Russian adolescents in the high family engagement typology reported fewer somatic complaints compared to those with low family engagement. In addition, adolescents from Czechia and Russia showing moderate family engagement also reported fewer psychological complaints compared to those in the low family engagement typology. Discussion Our findings from four countries suggest that adolescents with high family engagement have greater life satisfaction and fewer psychological complaints, pointing toward a need for interventions to support family engagement among adolescents. Further research is needed to fully explore underlying mechanisms.
- Published
- 2021