Perceived parental alcohol problems and psychosomatic complaints : A cross-sectional study of adolescents in Sweden

This study examined the association between Swedish adolescents’ self-reported psychosomatic health complaints and parental alcohol drinking problems controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Data was obtained from a nationally representative sample from 2021, the national survey of the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN) survey. Our study sample had 9,032 students from grades 9 (15-16 years) and 11 (17-18 years) from randomly selected 350 schools in Sweden. Adolescents’ self-reported psychosomatic complaints were coded into dependent variable. The main independent variable was adolescents’ perceived parental alcohol drinking problems, measured by the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST-6) scale. Adolescents’ self-reported sociodemographic characteristicswere were control variables. We performed a chi2 significance test and binary logistic regression analysis. Adolescents with perceived parental drinking problems had higher odds of reporting psychosomatic complaints than adolescents with no perceived parental drinking problems. This association remained statistically significant in a fully adjusted model with all control variables. The association was stronger among grade 9 adolescents than grade 11 adolescents. Adolescents with perceived parental drinking problems were more likely to report subjective psychosomatic health complaints. Besides universal programes, this vulnerable group of adolescents and parents might benefit more from targeted interventions in schools and healthcare centres