Mental Health, Health Behaviors and Measurement

A PhD Project

About the Project

This project comprises four sub-studies that investigate the mental health of 15-29 year olds in Sweden. We are interested in:

1. How many young people have symptoms of anxiety and depression? We aim to find out by using more comprehensive assessment tools than those previously used in national surveys.
2. How do health behaviors and mental health influence each other among young people? Examples of health behaviors include alcohol and tobacco use, physical activity, and dietary habits. We know these affect mental health, but more research is needed to understand how.
3. How do young people understand and interpret questions that measure anxiety? We will interview young people about their experiences with the questions and assessment tools we use to assess anxiety.
4. Are the tools we use to measure anxiety reliable? To ensure the validity and reliability of the statistics we present, it is crucial to examine the properties of these assessment tools.

Purpose

The purpose of the project is to fill some of the knowledge gaps that currently exist regarding the mental health of young people in Sweden. By answering the questions above, we aim to:

1. Provide a clearer picture of the extent of mental ill health among young people today.
2. Better understand the factors that affect young people's mental health.
3. Better understand what the responses to our questions represent. Allowing young people's voices to be heard.
4. Determine if the assessment tools we use produce valid and reliable results.

Project participants: PhD student Emma Ahlqvist Lindqvist supervised by Pernilla Åsenlöf, Emma Hovén, Andreas Frick and Hanna Ljungvall.

Project financed by: Private donation