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Background: Adolescence is a critical moment in life; people become individuals, create new relationships, develop social skills, and learn behaviours that they will use for the rest of their lives. During this phase, adolescents establish patterns of behaviour that can protect their health. This study aims to: 1. assess the presence of psychological disorders in adolescents of both genders; 2. determine the relation of socio-economic differences based on the Family Affluence Scale (FAS); and 3. assess trends from 2006 to 2018. Methods: Data was collected from the Italian Health Behaviour in School-aged Childrensurvey given to a representative sample of Tuscan adolescents aged 11-15 years. Participants (n.12,550) filled out questionnaires to assess whether psychological symptoms like feeling low, irritability, nervousness, or sleeping difficulties manifested weekly or more often over the past six months. For the study we utilized a cross-sectional survey method and linear regression to examine the association between psychological symptoms (dependent variable measured on an interval scale (0-16)), gender and FAS. We conducted similar analyses using logistic regressions for each of the 4 symptoms. Results: An increase in psychological symptoms in both genders was revealed between 2006 to 2018, with a statistically significant presence in females: 0.29 (95% Confidence Interval [CI], 0.17 to 0.41), 1.43 (95% CI, 1.37 to 1.48) and 1.43 (95% CI, 1.34 to 1.52) in low-, medium- and high-family affluence respectively; whereas males presented 0.14 (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.27), 0.71 (95% CI, 0.65 to 0.77) and 0.31 (95% CI, 0.22 to 0.39), respectively. The probability of a predictive episode of psychological symptoms (feeling low, irritability, nervousness, sleeping difficulties) occurring weekly or more has greatly increased in females of all socioeconomic classes. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the increase in psychological disorders in adolescents should be considered a public health problem and further investigated through longitudinal studies and continuous monitoring of health trends. |
