Parental separation and school dropout in adolescence.

AIMS: To document the association between parental separation and school dropout in adolescence and to examine the factors that may potentially account for this association. METHODS: Data stem from the large youth@hordaland study that was linked to the Norwegian National Educational Database to obtain objective measures of educational outcomes and disposable income (N = 8323). Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between parental separation and school dropout. A Fairlie post-regression decomposition was used to examine the influence of parental education, household income, health complaints, family cohesion, and peer problems in explaining the association between parental separation and school dropout. RESULTS: Parental separation was associated with a higher odds ratio (OR) of school dropout in crude and adjusted (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)) analyses (OR=2.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) =1.90-2.45; AOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.50-2.00). About 31% of the higher odds of school dropout among adolescents with separated parents was explained by the covariates. The decomposition analysis suggested that parental education (43%) and disposable income (20%) accounted for most of the explained differences in school dropout. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with separated parents are at higher risk for not completing secondary education. Parental education and disposable income accounted for most of the explained differences in school dropout between the groups. Still, the majority of the difference in school dropout remained unaccounted for, indicating that the link between parental separation and school dropout is complex and likely influenced by multiple factors.

Childhood maltreatment and sleep in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Childhood maltreatment is a global problem with the risk of serious health consequences for children and adolescents, including sleep problems. Former systematic reviews have examined the association between childhood maltreatment and sleep problems in adults, but no systematic review has investigated the literature on childhood maltreatment and sleep problems in childhood and adolescence. We published a protocol (PROSPERO: CRD42021225741) and conducted a systematic literature search using nine electronic databases. Upon duplicate removal, 1530 records were screened against the inclusion criteria, and 26 studies were included in the review. The most studied sleep outcomes were symptoms of insomnia, sleep duration and nightmares. The results showed significant associations between exposure to childhood maltreatment and insomnia symptoms (OR 3.91, 95%CI: 2.64-5.79, p < .001), shorter sleep duration (-12.1 min, 95%CI: -19.4 to -4.7, p < .001) and nightmares (OR 3.15, 95%CI: 2.38-4.18, p < 001). There was a considerable heterogeneity in measures and instruments used to examine sleep and maltreatment. Our findings highlight the importance of screening and intervening for sleep problems in children and adolescents exposed to childhood maltreatment.

Do Parental Education-Related Inequality Matter in Child and Adolescent Utilization of Mental Health Services: Results From a Norwegian Register Linkage Study.

Equitable access to health care point to equal access to care for those with equal needs, but pro-rich and pro-educated inequities have been documented in specialized mental health care utilization. This study aimed to investigate equity in Norwegian adolescents' use of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) with regards to parental education levels, using a survey of 10 257 Norwegian 16- to 19-year-olds subsequently linked to CAMHS data from the Norwegian Patient Registry (n = 970 had been in contact with CAMHS). Analyses using concentration indices (C) suggested adolescents with parents with lower education levels had more mental health problems (ie, larger need; C = -0.032, P < .001) and were more in contact with CAMHS (C = -0.025, P < .001). Regression analysis suggested that CAMHS contact, and number of unique admissions was largely distributed according to need, but participants whose parents had basic education levels were in contact with CAMHS for slightly longer than predicted from their self-reported mental health problems, age, and sex. Results from this study suggested that contact with CAMHS was largely equitable and mostly influenced by need. There was little evidence of parental education-related inequity in access to, and use of, specialized mental health services.

The Association Between Symptoms of Depression and School Absence in a Population-Based Study of Late Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: School attendance is an important functional marker in adolescence, and knowledge of the correlates of school absence is important to inform preventive efforts. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the association between symptoms of depression and school absence in late adolescence, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and externalizing problems. METHODS: Data stem from the youth@hordaland-survey, a population-based survey of adolescents between 16 and 19 years old attending upper secondary education in Hordaland County, Norway, in spring 2012. Administrative data on school absence was provided for 8222 adolescents. In addition to days and hours absent the past semester, a variable of total absence was calculated and divided into quartiles of absence. Symptoms of mental health problems and sleep duration was based on adolescent self-reports. RESULTS: Reports of depressive symptoms were significantly associated with school absence when investigated as continuous variables. The strength of the association attenuated but remained statistically significant when controlling for sociodemographic factors and externalizing problems. When investigating the association at different levels of school absence, adolescents in the second, third and fourth quartile of school absence reported significantly higher depression scores compared to adolescents in the first quartile. The association between reports of symptoms of depression and school absence was partially mediated by sleep duration. CONCLUSION: The association between reported symptoms of depression and school absence was evident even at low levels of school absence, indicating a role for universal prevention strategies. The findings suggest both depression and sleep problems as possible targets for intervention in late adolescence.

Sleep and academic performance in later adolescence: results from a large population-based study.

The aim of the current study was to assess the association between sleep duration and sleep patterns and academic performance in 16-19 year-old adolescents using registry-based academic grades. A large population-based study from Norway conducted in 2012, the youth@hordaland-survey, surveyed 7798 adolescents aged 16-19 years (53.5% girls). The survey was linked with objective outcome data on school performance. Self-reported sleep measures provided information on sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep deficit and bedtime differences between weekday and weekend. School performance [grade point average (GPA)] was obtained from official administrative registries. Most sleep parameters were associated with increased risk for poor school performance. After adjusting for sociodemographic information, short sleep duration and sleep deficit were the sleep measures with the highest odds of poor GPA (lowest quartile). Weekday bedtime was associated significantly with GPA, with adolescents going to bed between 22:00 and 23:00 hours having the best GPA. Also, delayed sleep schedule during weekends was associated with poor academic performance. The associations were somewhat reduced after additional adjustment for non-attendance at school, but remained significant in the fully adjusted models. In conclusion, the demonstrated relationship between sleep problems and poor academic performance suggests that careful assessment of sleep is warranted when adolescents are underperforming at school. Future studies are needed on the association between impaired sleep in adolescence and later functioning in adulthood.