Gender Sexuality Alliances and School Safety: Who Benefits Most, and Do Additive School-Led Practices Strengthen the Link?

While Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) are associated with higher acceptance of sexual diversity and lower bullying-victimization, it is unclear which individual and school-level attributes strengthen these associations. Nationally representative data (N = 1,567 students; Mage = 15.4, SD = 0.16; 34% boys, 66% girls, 51% heterosexual, 49% sexually-diverse after propensity score matching) in 139 Dutch secondary schools were used. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that GSA presence was linked to more inclusive attitudes about sexual diversity and a safer disclosure climate among sexually-diverse students, and lower general bullying-victimization when the school had a GSA combined with school practices to tackle bullying. School professionals and researchers are recommended to recognize the significance of individual and school-level factors that affect GSA correlates.

Trends over Time in Adolescent Emotional Wellbeing in the Netherlands, 2005-2017: Links with Perceived Schoolwork Pressure, Parent-Adolescent Communication and Bullying Victimization.

In some Scandinavian countries, the United Kingdom and the United States, there is evidence of a dramatic decline in adolescent emotional wellbeing, particularly among girls. It is not clear to what extent this decline can be generalised to other high-income countries. This study examines trends over time (2005-2009-2013-2017) in adolescent wellbeing in the Netherlands, a country where young people have consistently reported one of the highest levels of wellbeing across Europe. It also assesses parallel changes over time in perceived schoolwork pressure, parent-adolescent communication, and bullying victimization. Data were derived from four waves of the nationally representative, cross-sectional Dutch Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (N = 21,901; 49% girls; Mage = 13.78, SD = 1.25). Trends in emotional wellbeing (i.e., emotional symptoms, psychosomatic complaints, life satisfaction) were assessed by means of multiple regression analyses with survey year as a predictor, controlling for background variables. Emotional wellbeing slightly declined among adolescent boys and girls between 2009 and 2013. A substantial increase in perceived schoolwork pressure was associated with this decline in emotional wellbeing. Improved parent-adolescent communication and a decline in bullying victimization may explain why emotional wellbeing remained stable between 2013 and 2017, in spite of a further increase in schoolwork pressure. Associations between emotional wellbeing on the one hand and perceived schoolwork pressure, parent-adolescent communication, and bullying victimization on the other were stronger for girls than for boys. Overall, although increasing schoolwork pressure may be one of the drivers of declining emotional wellbeing in adolescents, in the Netherlands this negative trend was buffered by increasing support by parents and peers. Cross-national research into this topic is warranted to examine the extent to which these findings can be generalised to other high-income countries.

Revising the self-report strengths and difficulties questionnaire for cross-country comparisons of adolescent mental health problems: the SDQ-R.

AIMS: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been used in many epidemiological studies to assess adolescent mental health problems, but cross-country comparisons of the self-report SDQ are scarce and so far failed to find a good-fitting, common, invariant measurement model across countries. The present study aims to evaluate and establish a version of the self-report SDQ that allows for a valid cross-country comparison of adolescent self-reported mental health problems. METHODS: Using the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, the measurement model and measurement invariance of the 20 items of the self-report SDQ measuring adolescent mental health problems were evaluated. Nationally representative samples of 11-, 13- and 15-year old adolescents (n = 33 233) from seven countries of different regions in Europe (Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia) were used. RESULTS: In order to establish a good-fitting and common measurement model, the five reverse worded items of the self-report SDQ had to be removed. Using this revised version of the self-report SDQ, the SDQ-R, partial measurement invariance was established, indicating that latent factor means assessing conduct problems, emotional symptoms, peer relationships problems and hyperactivity-inattention problems could be validly compared across the countries in this study. Results showed that adolescents in Greece scored relatively low on almost all problem subscales, whereas adolescents in Poland scored relatively high on almost all problem subscales. Adolescents in the Netherlands reported the most divergent profile of mental health problems with the lowest levels of conduct problems, low levels of emotional symptoms and peer relationship problems, but the highest levels of hyperactivity-inattention problems. CONCLUSIONS: With six factor loadings being non-invariant, partial measurement invariance was established, indicating that the 15-item SDQ-R could be used in our cross-country comparison of adolescent mental health problems. To move the field of internationally comparative research on adolescent mental health forward, studies should test the applicability of the SDQ-R in other countries in- and outside Europe, continue to develop the SDQ-R as a cross-country invariant measure of adolescent mental health, and examine explanations for the found country differences in adolescent mental health problems.

Individual and environmental predictors of health risk behaviours among Dutch adolescents: the HBSC study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine unique and common predictors of tobacco smoking, binge drinking, cannabis smoking, early sexual intercourse and multiple health risk behaviours. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study. METHODS: The Dutch Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study was used to provide data on 1742 adolescents aged 15 and 16 years of age. This study focused on a variety of individual and environmental predictors of health risk behaviours, tapping into four domains (mental health, family, peers and school), retrieved by adolescent self-reports and corrected for sociodemographic variables. Logistic and linear regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: Unique predictors (i.e., gender, low and very low education level, general health, hyperactivity problems, conduct problems, incomplete family, religion, knowledge of mother, parental rules on alcohol drinking, time spent with friends, number of friends, perceived tobacco use of classmates, truancy) were identified. In addition, common predictors (i.e., permissive rules on alcohol drinking and much time spent with friends) were also identified, explaining an increase in engagement in all investigated health risk behaviours in adolescence, including multiple risk behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: A prevention strategy targeting restrictive parenting and time spent with friends may be effective to reduce/discourage engagement in health risk behaviours.

The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study: methodological developments and current tensions.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the methodological development of the HBSC survey since its inception and explore methodological tensions that need to be addressed in the ongoing work on this and other large-scale cross-national surveys. METHODS: Using archival data and conversations with members of the network, we collaboratively analysed our joint understandings of the survey's methodology. RESULTS: We identified four tensions that are likely to be present in upcoming survey cycles: (1) maintaining quality standards against a background of rapid growth, (2) continuous improvement with limited financial resources, (3) accommodating analysis of trends with the need to improve and adapt questionnaire content, and (4) meeting the differing requirements of scientific and policy audiences. CONCLUSIONS: While these challenges are not trivial, the structure of the HBSC network and its long-term experience in working through such challenges renders it likely that HBSC can provide a model of other similar studies facing these tensions.