Young people’s mental health, social capital and help-seeking behaviour

The collected research shows a continued negative trend for mental health among young people in Sweden. It is extremely urgent to try to reverse the trend, which from a societal perspective would contribute to profits on several levels. For individual young people and families, suffering would be reduced. For the school, a more positive and safer climate would be created with more students passing school with passing grades. For society as a whole, the health and medical care would be relieved by young people receiving the right help at the right level and with a reduced risk of sick leave related to mental illness later in working life.

The research project involves young people to investigate (a) what values and resources exist in young people's social relationships and networks, (b) how these can be measured reliably and (c) then investigate how the connections look between young people's social capital, their psychological health and their propensity to seek help when they feel unwell. Together with young people and key persons in activities that work with young people, knowledge created during the course of the project must be continuously discussed and processed to see how the knowledge can best be implemented in the practical work. In this way, conditions are created for research results and new knowledge to be of as great use as possible to both young people and activities that meet young people in their everyday life and in their encounters with, for example, student health, youth clinics and organizations with a focus on mental health.

The knowledge that is expected to be obtained from the project is partly about an understanding of which young people do and do not seek help, and partly about making visible patterns in young people's social capital that can support the practice of identifying vulnerability at an early stage and creating better opportunities for preventive work and the strengthening of young people's mental health.

About the project

Project period:

2014–2023

Financiers:

The Knowledge foundation
The Kamprad foundation
Halmstad kommun

Project leaders:

Project participants:

Antony Morgan, Glasgow Caledonian University
Mikael Ahlborg, doctoral student, Halmstad University
Katrin Häggström Westberg, Affecta Psykiatri AB
Malin Eriksson

Publications:

Current Conceptualization and Operationalization of Adolescents’ Social Capital: A Systematic Review of Self-Reported Instruments. Ahlborg, M.G.; Nyholm, M.; Nygren, J.M.; Svedberg, P. Int. J. Environ. Public Health 2022, 19, 15596.
Mental Health Problems among Young People—A Scoping Review of Help-Seeking. Westberg K.H., Nyholm M., Nygren J.M., Svedberg P. Int. J. Environ. Public Health 2022, 19, 1430.
‘Lost in space - an exploration of help-seeking among young people with mental health problems: a constructivist grounded theory study. Häggström Westberg K., Nygren JM., Nyholm M., Carlsson IM., Svedberg P. 2020. Archives of Public Health.
Advancing knowledge on social capital for adolescent mental health. Morgan A., Svedberg P., Nyholm M., Nygren JM. 2020. Health Promotion International. 1–13
Into the realm of social capital for adolescents: A latent profile analysis. Ahlborg MG., Svedberg P., Nyholm M., Morgan A., Nygren JM. PLoS One. 2019. 14(2):e0212564.
Cyberbullying and traditional bullying among Nordic adolescents and their impact on life satisfaction. Arnarsson A., Nygren J., Nyholm M., Torsheim T., Augustine L., Bjereld Y., Markkanen I., Schnohr CW., Rasmussen M., Nielsen L., Bendtsen P. Scand J Public Health. 2019 doi: 10.1177/1403494818817411.
Optimism as a Candidate Health Asset: Exploring Its Links With Adolescent Quality of Life in Sweden. Haggstrom Hutton K., Wilhsson M., Nygren JM., Svedberg P., Morgan A., Nyholm M. Child Dev. 2017 doi: 10.1111/cdev.12958.
Socioeconomic inequalities in health among Swedish adolescents - adding the subjective perspective. Ahlborg M.G., Svedberg P., Nyholm M., Morgan A., Nygren JM. BMC Public Health. 2017;17:838.
Social inequalities in self-rated health: A comparative cross-national study among 32,560 Nordic adolescents. Torsheim T., Nygren JM., Rasmussen M., Arnarsson A., Bendtsen P., Schnor C.W., Nielsen L., Nyholm M. Scand J Public Health. 2017 doi: 10.1177/1403494817734733.
Strategies of Adolescent Girls and Boys for Coping With School-Related Stress. Wilhsson, M., Svedberg, P., Högdin, S., & Nygren, JM. Journal of School Nursing. 2016, doi 10.1177/1059840516676875
Handling Demands of Success Among Girls and Boys in Primary School: A Conceptual Model. Wilhsson M, Svedberg P, Carlsson IM, Högdin S and Nygren JM.
J Sch Nurs. 2016 pii: 1059840516654743.
Girls and boys strategies to handle and cope with school-related stress. Wilhsson M, Svedberg P, Högdin S, Nygren J. European Journal of Public Health 2016:26(Suppl. 1):221.
The validity of socioeconomic status measures among adolescents based on self-reported information about parents occupations, FAS and perceived SES; Implication for health related quality of life studies. Svedberg, P., Nygren, J.M., Staland-Nyman, C., Nyholm, M. BMC Medical Research Methodology. 2016;16:48.
Self-rated mental health and socio-economic background : a study of adolescents in Sweden. Hutton K, Nyholm M, Nygren JM, Svedberg P. BMC Public Health. 2014. 14:1.
Psychometric evaluation of a Swedish version of Minneapolis-Manchester quality of life-youth form and adolescent form. Einberg EL, Kadrija I, Brunt D, Nygren JM, Svedberg P. 2013. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 11:79.