Trends from 2006-2018 in Health, Health Behaviour, Health Outcomes and Social Context of Adolescents in Luxembourg

Report (2020)

This report shows how 30 health indicators developed in the four Luxembourg HBSC surveys conducted in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. There were positive trends especially in the health behaviour of the pupils ... [more ▼]

This report shows how 30 health indicators developed in the four Luxembourg HBSC surveys conducted in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. There were positive trends especially in the health behaviour of the pupils: they smoke less and drink less alcohol. They also report more frequently that they brush their teeth regularly, eat more fruit and fewer sweets and consume fewer soft drinks. From 2006-2018, however, there were also deteriorations. For example, more pupils feel stressed from school and rate the climate among classmates worse. In addition, there are more pupils who are overweight and exercise less and more pupils report having psychosomatic health complaints. [less ▲]

School-Class Co-Ethnic and Immigrant Density and Current Smoking among Immigrant Adolescents

in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2020), 17(2),

Although the school-class is known to be an important setting for adolescent risk behavior, little is known about how the ethnic composition of a school-class impacts substance use among pupils with a ... [more ▼]

Although the school-class is known to be an important setting for adolescent risk behavior, little is known about how the ethnic composition of a school-class impacts substance use among pupils with a migration background. Moreover, the few existing studies do not distinguish between co-ethnic density (i.e., the share of immigrants belonging to one’s own ethnic group) and immigrant density (the share of all immigrants). This is all the more surprising since a high co-ethnic density can be expected to protect against substance use by increasing levels of social support and decreasing acculturative stress, whereas a high immigrant density can be expected to do the opposite by facilitating inter-ethnic conflict and identity threat. This study analyses how co-ethnic density and immigrant density are correlated with smoking among pupils of Portuguese origin in Luxembourg. A multi-level analysis is used to analyze data from the Luxembourg Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study (N = 4268 pupils from 283 classes). High levels of co-ethnic density reduced current smoking. In contrast, high levels of immigrant density increased it. Thus, in research on the health of migrants, the distinction between co-ethnic density and immigrant density should be taken into account, as both may have opposite effects. [less ▲]

Der Wandel der jugendpolitischen Agenda und die Konsequenzen für die Konzeption der Lebensphase Jugend. Eine Analyse am Beispiel von Jugendpolitik in Luxemburg

in Heinen, Andreas; Wiezorek, Christine; Willems, Helmut (Eds.) Entgrenzung der Jugend und Verjugendlichung der Gesellschaft. Zur Notwendigkeit einer »Neuvermessung« jugendtheoretischer Positionen (2020)

Entgrenzung der Jugend und Verjugendlichung der Gesellschaft. Zur Notwendigkeit einer »Neuvermessung« jugendtheoretischer Positionen

Book published by Beltz Juventa (2020)

Communication with father and mother differently impacts suicidal behaviour

Poster (2019, September)

Background: Positive relationships with parents can reduce the risk of suicidal behaviour in adolescents. Previous research has indicated that adolescents who report poor communication with their parents ... [more ▼]

Background: Positive relationships with parents can reduce the risk of suicidal behaviour in adolescents. Previous research has indicated that adolescents who report poor communication with their parents are more likely to display suicidal behaviour. The aim of this study is to find out whether communication with the father or mother is equally important for suicidal behaviour. Methods: A total of 5595 students aged from 12 to 18 years old in secondary school participated in the 2014 HBSC Luxembourg survey. They responded to a questionnaire including, among others: 4 questions regarding sadness, suicide ideation, planning and attempt, and 2 questions about ease of communication with their father and mother. Findings: Adolescents who indicate poorer communication with their mother or father have higher odds for all suicidal behaviours. Poor communication with fathers has a bigger influence on the odds for sadness, whereas poor communication with mothers has a bigger influence on the odds for attempted suicide. Lastly, adolescents who don`t have or don`t see their mother or father are at increased risk for the suicidal behaviours, although the odds are not as high as for those indicating very difficult communication with their parent(s). Discussion: The Luxembourgish findings confirm the results of previous research and go further showing that, as a determinant, communication with mother differs from the communication with father. More studies should confirm these findings and include other variables, such as social support and stress, in order to see their relation with the communication with both parental figures and suicidal behaviours. [less ▲]

"Are you a boy or girl?" Who are the non-responders

Scientific Conference (2019, June 20)

Background: In many studies, participants who do not state their gender are excluded from the analysis. This may be appropriate if they do not answer the questionnaire seriously. However, some ... [more ▼]

Background: In many studies, participants who do not state their gender are excluded from the analysis. This may be appropriate if they do not answer the questionnaire seriously. However, some participants may have understandable reasons for not reporting their gender, e.g. questioning their gender identity. Objective: How many students and which students do not answer the question on gender? Methods: HBSC 2018 raw data from Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France are compared. To explore the reasons for non-response, we divided the participants into 3 groups: 1. Responders answered both sociodemographic questions (age and gender) 2. age non-responders did not answer the question on age. 3. Gender non-responders answered the question on age, but not the one on gender. Results: Between 0.8% (Ireland) and 1.2% (Luxembourg) of participants did not report their gender. About half of them did not answer the age question either. However, the other half belong to the group of gender non-responders and this group is disadvantaged compared to responders: they report lower life satisfaction, lower self-rated health, more health complaints, less peer support and their WHO-5 Well-being score is lower. Not answering the question on gender is rare. If the participants answered the question on age, but not the question on gender, then the variable gender is missing not at random. Implication: The question arises whether the group of gender non-responders should be included in the analysis and whether the question on gender should be asked differently in the future. [less ▲]

Is Life Satisfaction Contagious?

Scientific Conference (2019, June)

Background: Life satisfaction (LS) is a major component of adolescents’ subjective well-being, facilitating adaptive development and influencing health. Literature shows that social support influences ... [more ▼]

Background: Life satisfaction (LS) is a major component of adolescents’ subjective well-being, facilitating adaptive development and influencing health. Literature shows that social support influences adolescents LS. In addition, the social network can affect health-related behaviors of adults - individuals that smoke or exercise tend to group together. However, the effects of others` LS on adolescents’ individual evaluation of LS (the contagion hypothesis) is still to be addressed. Objective(s): To test the contagion hypothesis of adolescents’ life satisfaction (how LS of proxies influences the individual LS appraisal). Method: Data is from 9738 students (aged 9-20) from the 2018 HBSC Luxembourg survey. A multilevel analysis was used to evaluate LS, with the school classes as subjects (model 1) to estimate the influence of being in a certain school class. Later, FAS, age and gender were entered as control variables (model 2). Results: The grand mean (intercept) for LS in model 1 was 7.57 (SE=.03, p<.001). For model 2, FAS (b=.47, SE=.03, p<.001), age (b=-.14, SE=.01, p<.001) and gender (b=-.23, SE=.04, p<.001) were significantly predictive of LS. The grand mean for LS, conditioned on the presence of FAS, age and gender, was 9.02 (SE=.05, p<.001). Interclass Correlation Coefficient decreased from model 1 (ICC=.08) to model 2 (ICC=.04). Conclusions: Results suggest that part of the variance of LS can be explained by the school class level. In other words, school class clusters have an influence on their LS, indicating that the LS of adolescents from a class partially accounts for individual LS. [less ▲]

Die Offices Sociaux in Luxemburg aus Sicht der AkteurInnen und Adressatinnen - Abschlussbericht zur Evaluation des luxemburgischen Sozialhilfegesetzes

Report (2019)

Adolescent suicide behaviour profiles: comparing unplanned attempts, planned attempts and ideation

in European Journal of Public Health (2019)

Psychometrical Properties of a French Version of the General Self-Efficacy Short Scale (ASKU)

in Swiss Journal of Psychology (2019)

General self-efficacy is a central personality trait often evaluated in surveys as context variable. It can be interpreted as a personal coping resource reflecting individual belief in one’s overall ... [more ▼]

General self-efficacy is a central personality trait often evaluated in surveys as context variable. It can be interpreted as a personal coping resource reflecting individual belief in one’s overall competence to perform across a variety of situations. The German-language Allgemeine-Selbstwirksamkeit-Kurzskala (ASKU) is a reliable and valid instrument to assess this disposition in the German-speaking countries based on a three-item equation. This study develops a French version of the ASKU and tests this French version for measurement invariance compared to the original ASKU. A reliable and valid French instrument would make it easy to collect data in the French-speaking countries and allow comparisons between the French and German results. Data were collected on a sample of 1,716 adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a good fit for a single-factor model of the data (in total, French, and German version). Additionally, construct validity was assessed by elucidating intercorrelations between the ASKU and different factors that should theoretically be related to ASKU. Furthermore, we confirmed configural and metric as well as scalar invariance between the different language versions, meaning that all forms of statistical comparison between the developed French version and the original German version are allowed. [less ▲]