Associations between the self-reported happy home lives and health of Canadian school-aged children: An exploratory analysis with stratification by level of relative family wealth
and | Apr 30, 2022
Article Category: Original Research
Published Online: Apr 30, 2022
Page range: 151 - 169
Received: Jun 06, 2021
Accepted: Aug 12, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34763/jmotherandchild.20212503SI.d-21-00015
Keywords
© 2021 Emilie Pianarosa and Colleen M Davison, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Background
Connections between home life, level of family wealth, happiness and health are strong, yet these relationships are complex and for Canadian adolescents not well studied. The objective of this investigation was to explore associations between aspects of health and self-reported happy home life among Canadian adolescents aged 10–16 years and to determine if level of self-reported relative family wealth modified associations.
Material and methods
This was a secondary analysis of Canadian data from the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study (n=21,745). Theory drove the selection of 26 health-related HBSC variables. Bivariate analyses and calculation of adjusted odds ratios, considering level of self-reported relative family wealth in a stratified analysis, were undertaken.
Results
Overall, proximal, micro-level factors were most strongly associated with reports of a happy home life, with distal, macro-level factors less strongly associated. Differences existed between the health and home-life associations for adolescents of different levels of self-reported relative family wealth indicating effect modification. Family support and levels of adolescent self-reported overall health and mental health were common factors that were strongly associated with reporting a happy home life.
Conclusion
We believe happy home lives are central and critical for thriving youth and families. This was an exploratory analysis. Many of the factors and relationships in this study are potentially modifiable and represent important possible areas of future focus for adolescent and family health improvement.