Time trends in cluster profiles of psychosomatic problems, self-rated poor health, and low life satisfaction from 2002 to 2022 among adolescents in five Nordic countries.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to perform person-oriented analyses among adolescents in five Nordic countries to estimate changes from 2002 to 2022 based on three key indicators of poor health status: psychosomatic complaints, self-rated poor health, and poor life satisfaction. METHODS: Data were employed from the HBSC survey of 15-year-olds (2002 to 2022) from five Nordic countries (N = 48,320): Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Cluster analyses were performed. RESULTS: Seven cluster profiles were identified. There were small differences between countries based on these profiles. Substantially more boys than girls were found in the two profiles indicating good health. Among the clusters indicating poor health status, girls were overrepresented in profiles that had high levels of psychosomatic complaints. Increasing time trends over the last 20 years appear to be associated with an increase in psychosomatic problems rather than other indicators of poor health status. Decreases were found in profiles involving high levels of self-rated poor health only, low life satisfaction only, or a combination of the two. CONCLUSIONS: The cluster profiles reveal different trends of poor health status among adolescents over time, increases and decreases, with sex being a significant factor. The increase in poor health status over the last two decades appears concentrated in psychosomatic symptoms, possibly reflecting an increase in everyday stressors during the survey period or increased sensitivity to these stressors.