Robert Young

University of Glasgow | UofG · Centre of Health and Wellbeing

Background: Pathways leading to socioeconomic inequalities in young children's body mass index (BMI) are not well understood. This study examined whether parenting related to the physical and social context of children's food consumption helped to explain associations between maternal educational level and child BMI trajectory. Methods: The stud...

Sexual harassment is commonly considered unwanted sexual attention and a form of gender-based violence that can take physical, verbal and visual forms and it is assumed to cause later depression in adolescents. There is a dearth of research explicitly testing this assumption and the directional pathway remains unclear. The purpose of this study was...

Background The term ‘self-harm’ encompasses both attempted suicide and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Specific adolescent subpopulations such as ethnic or sexual minorities, and more controversially, those who identify as ‘Alternative’ (Goth, Emo) have been proposed as being more likely to self-harm, while other groups such as ‘Jocks’ are linked...

QUESTION Question: Is an assertive outreach intervention better than usual care for reducing subsequent suicide attempts in a group of people who have attempted suicide? Patients: In total, 243 people (76% female, mean age 31) older than 12 years admitted in 14 days following suicide attempt to six regional hospitals in the catchment area of Copenh...

Associations between different alcohol outcomes and outlet density measures vary between studies and may not be generalisable to adolescents. In a cross-sectional study of 979 15-year old Glaswegians, we investigated the association between alcohol outlet availability (outlet density and proximity), outlet type (on-premise vs. off-premise) and freq...

Ned (non-educated delinquent) is the Scottish equivalent of the English term ‘Chav’. It refers stereotypically to low class, uneducated, raucous and antisocial youth and is linked to specific (sub)cultural markers, e.g. a preference for drinking the fortified wine ‘Buckfast’. Using a survey of over 3000 15-year-old school pupils from the West of Sc...

Previous studies found lower substance use in schools achieving better examination and truancy results than expected, given their pupil populations (high value-added schools). This study examines whether these findings are replicated in West Scotland and whether school ethos indicators focussing on pupils' perceptions of schooling (environment, inv...

Few studies have sought to test whether changes in value orientation proposed by social theories can empirically be found. This study aims to rigorously test the extent to which there is similarity in values, in two large samples representative of 15-year-olds. We hypothesised that youth from Helsinki are more likely to hold more late-modern values...

Past studies using large population based datasets link certain perinatal circumstances (birth weight, parity, etc) with mental health outcomes such as suicide, self-harm and psychiatric problems. Problematically, population datasets omit a number of social confounds. The aim of this study is to replicate past research linking perinatal circumstanc...

Table S1. Suicide risk score Relationship between individual items and suicidality score.

Table S2: Factor analysis of 11 'perceptions of neighborhood' items.

Rates of suicide and poor mental health are high in environments (neighbourhoods and institutions) where individuals have only weak social ties, feel socially disconnected and experience anomie - a mismatch between individual and community norms and values. Young people spend much of their time within the school environment, but the influence of sc...

School pupils strive to meet both school-defined and social goals, and the structure of adolescent self-concept is multidimensional, including both academic and non-academic self-perceptions. However, subjective social status within the school community has been represented as a single dimension. Scottish 15-year olds participating in a school-base...

As the promotion of alcohol and tobacco to young people through direct advertising has become increasingly restricted, there has been greater interest in whether images of certain behaviours in films are associated with uptake of those behaviours in young people. Associations have been reported between exposure to smoking images in films and smokin...

Dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA-axis) is implicated in a variety of psychiatric and emotional disorders. In this study, we explore the association between HPA-axis functioning, as measured by morning cortisol, and common psychiatric disorders and symptoms among a community sample of adolescents. Data from a cross-...

Childhood behavioral and emotional symptoms are linked with distress and dysfunction that may persist into adulthood. Effective and practical early prevention could make a significant contribution to the well-being of individuals and the functioning of communities. School-based targeted interventions are relatively easy and inexpensive to deliver a...

Parental emotional neglect is linked to psychiatric disorder. This study explores the associations between children's perceptions of parental emotional neglect and future psychopathology. In a school-based longitudinal study of nearly 1,700 children aged 11-15 we explored children's perceptions of parenting, as measured by the Parental Bonding Inst...

This paper aims to explain previously described increases in self-reported psychological distress between 1987 and 2006 among samples identical in respect of age (15 years), school year and geographical location (West of Scotland). Such increases might be explained by changes in exposure (changes in levels of risk or protective factors) and/or by c...

This paper examines the relative importance of family socioeconomic status (SES) and school-based peer hierarchies for young people's psychoneuroendocrine response, represented by cortisol level. Data are drawn from a study of 2824, 15-year-olds in 22 Scottish secondary schools in 2006 who provided information on family SES (parental occupation, ma...

Individuals exposed to trauma or who have attempted suicide may show abnormal cortisol profiles; those exposed to significant trauma show reduced, while those who attempt suicide show increased cortisol output, although the evidence is inconsistent. This study explores the associations between morning cortisol, trauma, and suicide attempts or ideat...

Supplementary supporting material. Contains 2 figures; figure 1a locates specific items within the Schwartz value model; figure 1b provides a simplified model of Schwartz's circumplex model. Box 1 contains a broad introduction to the Schwartz model and a summary of its 10 values and typical items used in their measurement. Table 1 shows the factor...

Questionnaire items. List of 32 items on opinions and beliefs used in the factor analysis.

The importance of school transitions for pupil adjustment, particularly their impact on later well‐being and attainment, remains contested. This paper draws on data from a longitudinal, school‐based study of over 2000 Scottish pupils, first surveyed in 135 primary schools (age 11) in 1994, and followed up in 43 secondary schools (age 13 and 15) and...

Past studies have linked certain values (traditional vs. individualistic) with adolescent substance-use. The aims of this study are to replicate cross-sectional research linking values and adolescent substance-use and to determine if such values predict future substance-use. A longitudinal school-based survey of 2196 young people (age 15) followed...

This paper examines the relative importance of family socioeconomic status (SES) and school-based peer hierarchies for young people's psychoneuroendocrine response, represented by cortisol level. Data are drawn from a study of 2824, 15-year-olds in 22 Scottish secondary schools in 2006 who provided information on family SES (parental occupation, ma...

This exploratory study investigates whether associations between social network measures and substance use differ according to type of substance and social context. The analyses use data obtained from 13 and 15 year olds (N = 3146) in a school-based survey and focus on three social network measures: sociometric position (e.g. group, dyad, isolate);...

Increases in the prevalence of child and adolescent obesity have accelerated since the mid 1980s. Socio-economic status (SES)-adiposity relationships appear less clear in adolescence than childhood, and evidence on whether increasing obesity is itself patterned according to SES is inconsistent. Increasing prevalence may have increased the tolerance...

Table 3: GHQ 'caseness', 'low' self-esteem and weight worries by obesity status – males and females at each date.

Increases in a number of psychosocial disorders have been identified among Western youth in the second half of the Twentieth century. However findings are not consistent, trends are complex, and comparisons over time are hampered by methodological problems. Data were drawn from three samples identical in respect of age (15 years), school year (fina...

Salivary cortisol is widely used in research but little is known about the typical, or expected, functioning of the HPA-axis in adolescents in naturalistic settings, nor whether the extensive array of confounders documented in the literature is applicable in this situation. In a school-based study, 2995 15-year-old pupils provided two saliva sample...

To examine the direction of causation between young people's antisocial behaviour and alcohol (mis)use in the longer and shorter term, together with their joint effects on alcohol-related trouble. A longitudinal study (2586 pupils) supplied data, allowing exploration of the causal effects of alcohol (mis)use and antisocial behaviour between ages 11...

Objetivos: Examinar la dirección de causalidad entre el comportamiento antisocial de los jóvenes y el consumo (inadecuado) de alcohol a corto y largo plazo conjuntamente con los efectos asociados al problema relacionado con el alcohol. Métodos: Los datos provienen de un estudio longitudinal (2586 alumnos), que permite explorar los efectos del consu...

To examine the relation of young people's personal income and parental social class with smoking from early to mid adolescence. Longitudinal, school based, study of a cohort of 2586 eleven year-olds followed up at ages 13 and 15. West of Scotland. 93% baseline participation, reducing to 79% at age 15. Ever smoked (age 11), current and daily smoking...

Self-harm among young people in the UK is possibly increasing but little is known about the reasons young people give for cessation and their link with gender or employment status. To investigate self-harm in young people, prevalence, methods used, motivations for starting and ceasing, service use, and how these are related to gender, parental soci...

Despite considerable evidence for psychological distress among children and young people who experience peer victimization, cross-sectional studies cannot determine the direction of the relationship. Several recent studies have examined associations between victimization and distress. The majority find evidence for both directions but do not arbitr...

It is commonly assumed that young people's disposable income reflects the socioeconomic status of their family, those in more advantaged situations having more money than those who are disadvantaged. Plausible though this assumption is, evidence on the issue is surprisingly thin. Using data from a longitudinal study of young people in the West of S...

Editor—Our paper generated varied comments.1 The definition of “Goth” is contentious but covers a wide range of musical tastes, social groupings, and aesthetics.2 Our paper, as is clear from the title, refers to younger Goths; the results may not apply to all Goths. Our contribution is a first step towards producing an evidence base to test the hy...

To investigate whether deliberate self harm is associated with contemporary Goth youth subculture. Longitudinal cohort study. School and community based study of young people living in the Central Clydeside Conurbation, Scotland. 1258 people aged 19, surveyed in 2002-4 and followed-up since age 11 (1994). Lifetime prevalence of self harm and attemp...

Schools differ in the proportion of their pupils who smoke. Such differences transcend pupil intake characteristics and relate to the internal life of the school. Although adolescents' smoking behaviour has been associated with that of their peers, little consideration has been given to whether peer structures and processes contribute to school dif...

Adolescents obtain cigarettes from both commercial and social sources. While the relationship between commercial access and adolescent smoking has been researched, no one has considered in detail whether rates of peer smoking affect cigarette availability. In two relatively deprived Scottish schools that differed in their pupil smoking rates, we as...

In this study we used a gender diagnostic (GD) approach to examine the associations between gender-atypical behavior and gender role (masculinity—M and femininity—F), bullying, peer relationships, and psychological well-being in a large community sample of 15-year-olds. GD showed little relationship with gender role. Irrespective of sex, M was posi...

Atypical handedness patterns, i.e., persons being less exclusively right-handed, have been found previously in large samples of male and female homosexuals and in small samples of male and female transsexuals compared to controls. The posited role of prenatal androgen influencing both cerebral hemispheric dominance and psychosexual development warr...

The extent to which young people's lifestyles are related to social class, their relationship with health behaviours, and variations in these relationships between countries are of central relevance to an assessment of the extent to which post-modern (global) influences have replaced those associated with traditional (local) social structures. A co...

The different number of fingerprint ridges on the left compared to the right hand originates in the first trimester of pregnancy and remains unchanged. Leftward asymmetry, that is more ridges on the left, is more common in females. Males have a higher total ridge count for both hands. We studied 270 male-to-female transsexuals and 54 female-to-male...