A cross-country comparison of temporal change in adolescent mental health problems in the UK and Brazil

Jessica M Armitage*, E Viegas da Silva, Foteini Tseliou, Lucy Riglin, Gemma L Hammerton, Stephan Collishaw, Iná S Santos, Luciana Tovo-Rodrigues, Ana M B Menezes, Fernando Cesar Wehrmeister, Helen Gonçalves, Alicia Matijasevich, Joseph Murray

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

Aims

Epidemiological evidence shows a concerning rise in youth mental health difficulties over the past three decades. Most evidence, however, comes from countries in Europe or North America, with far less known about changes in other global regions. This study aimed to compare adolescent mental health across two population-based cohorts in the UK, and two population-based cohorts in Pelotas, Brazil.

Methods

Four population-based cohorts with identical mental health measures were compared. In Brazil, these included the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort and the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort. In the UK, cohorts included the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, and the Millennium Cohort Study. Mental health was measured in all cohorts using identical, parent-rated scores from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). This was assessed in both countries over approximately the same time periods, when adolescents were aged 11 (2004 vs 2015 in Brazil, and 2003 vs 2012 in the UK), with follow-up analyses focused on outcomes in later adolescence.

Results

Mental health problems were higher in the UK for adolescents born in the early 2000s compared to those born in the early 1990s. In Pelotas, the opposite was found, whereby problems were lower for adolescents born in the early 2000s compared to those born in the early 1990s. Despite these promising reductions in mental health problems in Pelotas over time, SDQ scores remained higher in Pelotas compared to the UK.

Conclusions

Our study represents the first to compare two population-based cohorts in the UK, and two population-based cohorts in Pelotas, Brazil, to understand how mental health problems have changed over time across the two settings. Our findings provide the most up-to-date insight into population-level rates of youth mental health problems in Pelotas, and shed novel insight into how these have changed over the last two decades in comparison to the UK. In doing so, our study provides a tentative first step towards understanding youth mental health over time at a more global scale, and presents a valuable opportunity to examine putative contributors to differences across time.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere17
JournalEpidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences
Volume34
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Mar 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2025.

Research Groups and Themes

  • ALSPAC

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