Changes in health-related quality of life in adolescents and the impact of gender and selected variables: a two-year longitudinal study

Table 1 Descriptive characteristics for gender, sociodemographic factors, pain, self-esteem, self-efficacy, loneliness, and stress at time 1 (N = 211)

Variables	Time 1 (14–15 years)
Gender, N (%)
Girls	144 (68.2)
Boys	67 (31.8)
Parental members of the household, N (%)^a
Both parents	159 (75.4)
Alternates between two parents	26 (12.3)
One parent and/or other caregivers	26 (12.3)
Parents’ birthplace, N (%)^b
Both parents born in Norway	161 (76.3)
One or both parents born in another country	50 (23.7)
Parents’ work status, N (%)^c
Both parents employed	168 (79.6)
One parent employed	43 (20.4)
Pain
Pain on average, median (min, max)^d	2.0 (0.0, 9.0)
Pain frequency, N (%)^e,f
Seldom	68 (42.2)
Sometimes	32 (19.9)
Often	61 (37.9)
Pain duration, N (%)^e,g
Pain ≤ 3 months	93 (57.8)
Pain > 3 months	68 (42.2)
Self-esteem, mean (SD)^h	3.1 (0.7)
Self-efficacy, mean (SD)ⁱ	3.1 (0.4)
Loneliness, median (min, max)^j	13 (8, 31)
Stress, mean (SD)^k	0.30 (0.16)

SD Standard deviation
^aThe variable was recoded into three categories: “Both parents,” “Alternates between two parents,” and “One parent and/or other caregivers” (one parent and one step-parent, one parent, other caregivers)
^bThe variable was dichotomized as “Both parents born in Norway” or “One or both parents born in another country” (one parent born in another country, both parents born in another country)
^cThe variable was dichotomized as “Both parents are working” or “One parent is working” (one parent is working, no parents are working)
^dRange: 0–10, where 10 indicates pain as bad as you can imagine
^eN = 161
^fThe variable was recoded into three categories: “seldom” (< once/month, once/month), “sometimes” (2–3 times/month, once/week), and “often” (several times/week, every day)
^gThe variable was dichotomized as “Pain ≤ 3 months” (only once, < 1 month, 1–3 months) or “Pain > 3 months” (> 3 months, > 6 months, > 12 months)
^hRange 1–4, where higher values indicate higher levels of self-esteem
ⁱRange 1–4, where higher values indicate higher levels of self-efficacy
^jRange 8–32, where higher values indicate higher levels of loneliness
^kRange 0–1, where higher values indicate higher levels of stress

ISSN: 1477-7525