Adolescent predictors and associates of psychosocial functioning in young men and women: 11 year follow-up findings from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study.

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether psychosocial functioning in adulthood (e.g., friends support, cohabitation, community connectedness and work satisfaction) could be predicted by mental health, subjective well-being, social relations and behavior problems in adolescence, and whether gender was a moderator in these associations. Data were obtained from a major population-based Norwegian study, the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), in which 517 men and 819 women completed an extensive self-report questionnaires at baseline (mean age 14.4 years) and at follow-up (mean age 26.9 years). Community connectedness as well as work satisfaction were predicted by subjective well-being. Cohabitation was predicted by male gender and frequency of meeting friends in adolescence, and friends support was predicted by frequency of meeting friends. Gender had a minor effect as a moderator. Frequency of meeting friends and subjective well-being seemed to be the strongest adolescent predictors of psychosocial functioning in young adulthood. These findings may have implications both for prevention and intervention in adolescence, as well as for future research.

Factors predicting changes in physical activity through adolescence: the Young-HUNT Study, Norway.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this prospective population-based study was to analyze predictors of changes in physical activity (PA) levels from early to late adolescence. METHODS: Data presented are from 2,348 adolescents and their parents who participated in the Nord-Trøndelag Health study (HUNT 2, 1995-1997) and at follow-up in Young-HUNT 2, 2000-2001 Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire and participated in a clinical examination that included measurements of height and weight. RESULTS: Four patterns of PA emerged in the study: active or inactive at both time points (active maintainers, 13%; inactive maintainers, 59%), inactive and became active (adopters, 12%), active and became inactive (relapsers, 16%). Being overweight, dissatisfied with life, and not actively participating in sports at baseline were significant predictors of change regarding PA among boys at follow-up. For girls, smoking, drinking, low maternal education, and physical inactivity predicted relapsers and inactive maintainers. Higher levels of education and more physically active parents at baseline seemed to protect against decreased PA during follow-up for both genders. CONCLUSION: Predictors of change in, or maintaining PA status during adolescence differed by gender. These results suggest that PA-promoting interventions should be tailored by gender and focus on encouraging activity for inactive adolescents and maintenance of PA in those already active.

Sexual maturation in early adolescence and alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking in late adolescence: a prospective study of 2,129 Norwegian girls and boys.

Early sexual maturation has been associated with higher involvement in risk behaviour during early and mid-adolescence. In a prospective study of 2,129 girls and boys, we investigated whether the timing of sexual maturation was associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking in late adolescence and whether this relation differed between boys and girls. Nine hundred and eighty boys and 1,149 girls, who participated in a cross-sectional study in middle school, were included in a follow-up study in high school 4 years later. Self-rating of pubertal status, as registered at baseline in middle school, was used to indicate the timing of sexual maturation. Age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), estimated by logistic regression, were used to assess the association between sexual maturation and alcohol drinking and daily smoking at follow-up. We found that girls who had matured early (OR 1.7, CI 1.2-2.4) or late (OR, 1.5, CI, 1.1-2.2) were both more likely to report more advanced drinking in late adolescence than were girls who were on time. Boys who had matured late were less likely (OR 0.5, CI 0.3-0.8) than boys who were on time to engage in advanced drinking. In general, daily smoking was more common among girls than boys, and more common among girls who had matured early (OR 1.5, CI 1.1-2.2) than among girls who were on time. Adjustment for social factors, e.g. parental education and marital status and parental drinking and smoking habits, did not substantially influence these results. We concluded that, for girls, but not for boys, early sexual maturation was associated with more advanced drinking and higher frequency of smoking in late adolescence. In boys, late sexual maturation was associated with reduced risk of advanced drinking.