Alcohol use and misuse among school adolescents from national surveys in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2018

The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of alcohol use and misuse and associated factors among adolescents in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Data from 3,847 adolescents (mean age:14.6 years, SD = 1.7) that took part in national cross-sectional school surveys in 2018 in Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were analysed. Students responded in a classroom setting to self-administered questions on substance use and othe variables. The results indicate that 42.7% of the students reported current alcohol use, 27.9% were ever drunk and 11.4% had trouble with alcohol use. In adjusted logistic regression analyses, compared to students from Saint Lucia, students from Saint Vincent and the Granadines had higher odds of trouble from drinking. Older age was associated with current alcohol use and ever drunk but not with trouble from drinking. Severe food insecurity and suicidal ideation were associated with trouble from alcohol use. Current tobacco use and current cannabis use were highly associated with current alcohol use, ever drunk, and trouble with alcohol use, while ever use of amphetamines was associated with ever drunk. School truancy, participation in physical fights, injury, and multiple sexual partners increased the odds, while parental support decreased the odds of current alcohol use, ever drunk, and trouble from alcohol use. In conclusion, high alcohol use and misuse has been identified calling for interventions.

Health Risk behaviours Among Adolescents in Argentina: Trends Between 2007, 2012 and 2018 National Cross-Sectional School Surveys

Background The aim of this study was to assess trends of various health risk behaviours among adolescents across three different surveys in Argentina. Methods Data from 115,697 adolescents (mean age:14.6 years, SD = 1.2) that participated in three cross-sectional national school surveys in 2007, 2012 and 2018 were analysed. In all, 27 health risk behaviours were assessed through a self-administered questionnaire. Significance of a linear trend was tested by treating study year as categorical variable in logistic regression analyses, adjusted by age group and food insecurity for boys and girls separately Results Among both sexes, four health risk behaviours (current cigarette use, passive smoking, trouble from alcohol use, and physically attacked) significantly reduced from 2007 to 2018. Among boys five health risk behaviours (experience of hunger, parental tobacco use, current alcohol use, involvement in physical fighting, and multiple sexual partners), and among girls, inadequate physical activity significantly reduced over time. Among both sexes, the prevalence of four health risk behaviours (overweight/obesity, obesity, leisure-time sedentary behaviour and insufficient fruit intake) significantly increased among both sexes, and among girls ten health risk behaviours (not walking/biking to school, current other tobacco use, bullying victimisation, lifetime drunkenness, having no close friends, suicide plan, suicidal ideation, worry-induced sleep disturbance, loneliness, and ever sexual intercourse) significantly increased over time. Conclusion Nine health risk behaviours among boys and five health risk behaviours among girls decreased, and four health risk behaviours among boys and 14 health compromising behaviours among girls increased over a period of 11 years. School health programmes for adolescents should be strengthened in Argentina.

Chronic Backpain Among Adolescents in Denmark: Socioeconomic Inequality and Trends 1991-2018

Chronic backpain among adolescents is important because the prevalence and the burden of disability is high. Chronic backpain tracks into adulthood and is associated with several health problems. The objective was to study trends in the prevalence of chronic backpain among adolescents 1991-2018, to examine the association with socioeconomic status (SES) and whether this association changed over time. The study used data from eight comparable cross-sectional school-surveys of nationally representative samples of 11-15-year-olds in 1991, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018, the Danish arm of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The participation rate was 88.0%, n=29,952. Chronic backpain was defined as self-reported backpain daily or several days a week during the last six months. The prevalence of chronic backpain was 11.1%, significantly increasing from 8.9% in 1991 to 11.7% in 2018. The OR for chronic backpain was 1.20 (1.10-1.31) in middle and 1.56 (1.41-1.73) in low compared to high OSC. Sensitivity analyses with two other cut-points for backpain frequency showed similar associations. Conclusion: Chronic backpain is common among adolescents and the prevalence increased from 1991 to 2918. The prevalence was highest in lower SES families. We recommend increased efforts to prevent chronic backpain.

Parents Are Stressed! Patterns of Parent Stress Across COVID-19

Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused numerous unexpected challenges for many families, and these long-lasting demands likely contribute to higher stress for parents. The aim of this study was to describe changes in parent stress longitudinally from before (retrospective) to two timepoints during COVID-19. Stressors that influenced parenting and strategies to manage parenting difficulties at each timepoint during COVID-19 are also described.Methods: Parents (N = 433; 95% female) in the US with >1 child aged 5–18 years completed an online survey in May 2020 (T1; at the peak of stay-at-home mandates) and in September 2020 (T2; children's return to school). Surveys included the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and questions on parenting-specific stress, stressors that influenced parenting, and strategies to manage parenting difficulties during COVID-19. Retrospective report of pre-COVID-19 stress was assessed at T1; current stress was assessed at T1 and T2. Repeated measures analysis of variance examined changes in stress over time.Results: Parent's stress increased from before COVID-19 to T1 (PSS score: 16.3 ± 5.7 to 22.0 ± 6.4, respectively; p < 0.01), and decreased by T2 (19.2 ± 6.0), but remained elevated above pre-COVID-19 values (p < 0.01). Most parents (71.1%) reported an increase parenting-specific stress from before COVID-19 to T1, which continued to increase for 55% of parents at T2. Common stressors that impacted parenting during COVID-19 were changes in children's routines, worry about COVID-19, and online schooling demands. Common strategies parents used to manage parenting difficulties included doing family activities together, keeping in touch with family/friends virtually, and keeping children on daily routines.Conclusions: Parent stress increased substantially during COVID-19 and has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, suggesting the need for enhanced mental health resources and supports. Public health interventions should address parenting-specific stressors and effective strategies for managing parenting difficulties to mitigate their deleterious impact.

A Simple Method to Handle Non-response Bias in School Surveys on Drug Use

Background: Studies have proved the positive link between truancy and substances use in school surveys. In spite of this, no adapted weighting treatment is generally provided; even when the share of missing and truant pupils is high, and all drug use estimates are biased downward. The necessary data can be collected: on one side, individual current drug use and past episodes of absence and truancy of the respondents; on the other, the count of the presents and absents the day of the survey, including truants, in each class. However, the nature of these data prevents any classical modelling of the survey response without additional assumptions. Methods: We review one method proposed in 2002 by Guttmacher and al. that uses only the individual data and propose two methods that combine both kind of data and in which we can distinguish or not between truancy and legitimate absence. We apply them to the French release of the 2015 Espad survey (European survey project on alcohol and other drugs). The theoretical number of pupils was n=7166; 981 were absent (including 359 truants), while 178 were discarded because of the poor quality of their questionnaires and 6007 were considered final respondents. Assumptions, point estimates and variances are compared. Results: Guttmacher’ method is not conceptually valid and can lead to irrelevant corrections with high variances. Our estimate of cannabis regular use is 8.6% (std=0.75) instead of 7.7% (std=0.67), that is a non-response bias of circa 14%. Conclusion: The proposed approach relies on simple and plausible assumptions; it is preferable to any speculative consideration about the magnitude of the underestimation yielded by the classical weighting procedures. Survey designers should evaluate and discuss the potential bias of their surveys and eventually correct it.

Parents are stressed! Patterns of parent stress across COVID-19

Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused numerous unexpected challenges for many families, and these long-lasting demands likely contribute to higher stress for parents. The aim of this study was to describe changes in parent stress longitudinally from before (retrospective) to two timepoints during COVID-19. Stressors that influenced parenting and strategies to manage parenting difficulties at each timepoint during COVID-19 are also described.Methods: Parents (N=433; 95% female) in the US with >1 child aged 5-18 years completed an online survey in May 2020 (T1; at the peak of stay-at-home mandates) and in September 2020 (T2; children’s return to school). Surveys included the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and questions on parenting-specific stress, stressors that influenced parenting, and strategies to manage parenting difficulties during COVID-19. Retrospective report of pre-COVID-19 stress was assessed at T1; current stress was assessed at T1 and T2. Repeated measures analysis of variance examined changes in stress over time.Results: Parent’s stress increased from before COVID-19 to T1 (PSS score: 16.3±5.7 to 22.0±6.4, respectively; p<0.01), and decreased by T2 (19.2±6.0), but remained elevated above pre-COVID-19 values (p<0.01). Most parents (71.1%) reported an increase parenting-specific stress from before COVID-19 to T1, which continued to increase for 55% of parents at T2. Common stressors that impacted parenting during COVID-19 were changes in children’s routines, worry about COVID-19, and online schooling demands. Common strategies parents used to manage parenting difficulties included doing family activities together, keeping in touch with family/friends virtually, and keeping children on daily routines. Conclusions: Parent stress increased substantially during COVID-19 and has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, suggesting the need for enhanced mental health resources and supports. Public health interventions should address parenting-specific stressors and effective strategies for managing parenting difficulties to mitigate their deleterious impact.

Perhetaustan yhteys oppimistuloksiin Suomessa PISA- ja rekisteriaineistojen valossa

Aikaisempien tutkimusten mukaan oppimistulosten eriarvoisuus vanhemman taustan mukaan on kasvanut Suomessa viime vuosina. Tutkimusnäyttö perustuu vahvasti koulukyselyaineistoihin kuten PISA-aineistoon, jossa vanhempien koulutuksen ja ammattiasema on kysytty lapsilta. Tällaiset kyselyaineistot ovat alttiita vastausharhan aiheuttamalle mittausvirheelle. Tässä tutkimuksessa osoitamme, että PISA-aineistot sisältävät suurta mittausvirhettä vanhempien koulutuksen osalta. Siksi vanhemman ammattiasema on luotettavampi mittari, kun halutaan tutkia kotitaustan yhteyttä oppimistuloksiin PISA-aineistolla. Kun mittausvirhe ja negatiivinen valikoituminen vuosien välillä huomioidaan, oppimistulosten eriarvoisuus ei ole kasvanut Suomessa viime vuosina. / According to previous studies, the inequality of learning outcomes according to family background has increased in Finland in recent years. The evidence is strongly based on school surveys such as PISA data, where children are asked about their parental educational and occupation status. However, such surveys are prone to measurement error due to reporting bias. We show that the PISA data contain a large measurement error in terms of parental education. Therefore, parental occupational status is a more reliable indicator of family background when association between family background and learning outcomes are studied with PISA data. When the measurement error and the negative selection are taken into account, the results show that the inequality of learning outcomes has not increased in Finland in recent years.