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Salutogenic childhood factors reported by middle-aged individuals

Follow-up of the children from the Lundby study grown up in families experiencing three or more childhood psychiatric risk factors

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Abstract

This study is salutogenic (=causes of health), focusing on factors which corresponded to good mental health in subjects who had been exposed to at least three child psychiatric risk factors when growing up. The material was drawn from a prospective, longitudinal population study on mental health, the Lundby Study, which was performed in three waves in 1947, 1957 and 1972. In 1988/89, 148 individuals then 42–56 years of age, were re-visited and interviewed about their life span experiences. Factors previously found to increase stress resilience in children and adolescents were identified. The personal dispositions during childhood found to be associated with adult positive mental health were childhood positive self-esteem, successful coping, internal locus of control and intellectual capacity. Childhood family factors, such as trusting relations with a parent and shared values, were also important. Antonovsky's sense of coherence model can be used to explain the mechanisms by which the different variables can lead to health through increasing an individual's capacity for comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness, the three concepts of sense of coherence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry, University of Lund, POB 638, S-220 09, Lund, Sweden

    Marianne Cederblad, Lisa Dahlin & Kjell Hansson

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Lund, POB 638, S-220 09, Lund, Sweden

    Olle Hagnell

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  1. Marianne Cederblad
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  2. Lisa Dahlin
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  3. Olle Hagnell
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  4. Kjell Hansson
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Cederblad, M., Dahlin, L., Hagnell, O. et al. Salutogenic childhood factors reported by middle-aged individuals. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Nuerosci 244, 1–11 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02279805

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02279805

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