Anxiety, Sleep Problems, and Vigorous Physical Activity: Bidirectional Associations from Early Adolescence to Early Adulthood in Swedish Adolescents.

Anxiety symptoms and sleep problems typically emerge during adolescence and are frequently intertwined. However, there is a dearth of knowledge concerning their reciprocal influence and whether physical activity might play a protective role in this relationship. The present study aims at filling this gap exploring also the moderating role of sex. 915 13-year-old Swedish adolescents (56% girls) answered a survey conducted four times: at ages 13 (T1), 16 (T2), 19 (T3), and 22 (T4). A random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used. At within-levels, sleep problems and anxiety symptoms had a bidirectional positive association in middle adolescence. Vigorous physical activity and anxiety symptoms showed a reciprocal negative association from middle adolescence. Vigorous physical activity and sleep problems were reciprocally associated only in late adolescence. Associations were the same for girls and boys. This study demonstrated that the relations between anxiety symptoms, sleep problems, and vigorous physical activity cannot be understood without adopting a developmental perspective and that middle adolescence is a crucial period to plan interventions to reduce anxiety symptoms and sleep problems.

Among the swedish generation of adolescents who experience an increased trend of psychosomatic symptoms. Do they develop depression and/or anxiety disorders as they grow older?

BACKGROUND: Despite an increase in mental health problems, with psychosomatic symptoms having been observed in new generations of Swedish youth, the extent to which these problems correspond to an increase in adult mental problems is unknown. The present study investigates whether Swedish adolescents with high levels of psychosomatic symptoms are at risk of developing depression and anxiety problems in adulthood and whether sex moderates any association. Moreover, we aim to understand whether different clusters of youth psychosomatic symptoms - somatic, psychological and musculoskeletal - have different impacts on adult mental health. METHODS: One thousand five hundred forty-five Swedish adolescents - aged 13 (49%) and 15 (51%) - completed surveys at baseline (T1) and 3 years later (T2); of them, 1174 (61% females) also participated after 6 years (T3). Multivariate logistic models were run. RESULTS: Youth with high levels of psychosomatic symptoms had higher odds of high levels of depressive symptoms at T2 and T3. Moreover, psychosomatic symptoms at T1 predicted a high level of anxiety symptoms and diagnoses of anxiety disorders at T3. When analyzed separately, musculoskeletal symptoms predicted higher odds of having high levels of depressive symptoms at T2 and T3 while somatic symptoms predicted high levels of anxiety symptoms at T2. Moreover, somatic symptoms at T1 predicted diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders at T3. Sex did not moderate any of the relationships. CONCLUSIONS: The study supports the idea that an increase in mental health problems, such as psychosomatic symptoms, can seriously impact the psychological health of new generations of young adults.

The mediating role of parenting behaviors in the relationship between early and late adolescent levels of anxiety: Specificity and informant effects.

INTRODUCTION: The role of parenting behavior is often highlighted in the development of anxiety in youth. However, previous reports are limited in terms of the specificity of relationships between different types of anxiety and parenting behaviors, informant effects on these relationships, and direction of effects. METHODS: This study investigates these questions using longitudinal data from 1350 Swedish adolescents and their parents. Adolescents' self-reports of six dimensions of anxiety and adolescents' and parents' reports of six dimensions of parenting behaviors were used in the analyses. Parallel multiple mediation models were employed to analyze specificity and informant effects within a reciprocal effects model. RESULTS: Overall, and irrespective of informant, this study found little support for a mediating role of parenting behaviors in the relationship between early and late adolescent levels of anxiety. Evidence for specificity within the parenting-anxiety relationship was scarce with specific mediating effects observed only for panic/agoraphobia and total anxiety through the parenting dimension of rejection. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study concern the un-conditional mediating role of parenting. Parenting behaviors may be more influential among some adolescents, depending on individual differences in other factors related to the development and course of adolescent anxiety. Thus, further research on moderating factors of the influence of parenting on adolescent anxiety is warranted.

Maltreatment, MAOA, and delinquency: sex differences in gene-environment interaction in a large population-based cohort of adolescents.

The present study investigated a possible interaction between a functional polymorphism in the MAOA gene promoter (MAOA-VNTR) and childhood maltreatment in the prediction of adolescent male and female delinquency. A cohort of 1,825 high school students, 17-18 years old, completed an anonymous questionnaire during class hours which included questions on childhood maltreatment, sexual abuse, and delinquency. Saliva samples were collected for DNA isolation, and analyzed for the MAOA-VNTR polymorphism. Self-reported maltreatment was a strong risk factor for adolescent delinquent behavior. The MAOA genotype also showed a significant main effect when controlled for maltreatment. Boys with a short variant and girls with one or two long variants of the polymorphism showed a higher risk for delinquency when exposed to maltreatment. Our results confirm previous findings of an interaction between the MAOA-VNTR polymorphism and self-reported maltreatment. Results for boys and girls differ according to MAOA-VNTR genotype and direction of phenotypic expression.