title: Mental health trajectories of young people after disability onset.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Young people with disabilities are at greater risk of having mental health problems than are their nondisabled peers. Most research about the relationship between disability and mental health has been cross-sectional and unable to identify mental health status prior to onset of disability or possible mental health pathways following disability. There is a lack of information, therefore, about what happens to young people's mental health when they become disabled.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to identify the mental health trajectories for young Australian adults after onset of self-reported disability, taking into account their predisability mental health status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal data from waves 1 to 7 (2001 to 2007) of the survey of Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) were analyzed using a growth mixture modeling approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three distinct mental health trajectories were identified for the 136 young people reporting onset of ongoing disability. The majority (64.7%) of respondents experienced positive mental health before and following onset of disability. However, a significant minority (35.3%) experienced either (a) low mental health both prior to and following onset of disability (19.1%) or (b) mental health deterioration following onset of disability (16.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Targeting appropriate interventions to the young people with disabilities in these 2 groups could have a significant impact on enduring mental health status.
authors.affiliation: Australian Family and Disability Studies Research Collaboration, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Lidcombe, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Maina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kariuki
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Honey
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: Gwynnyth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Llewellyn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003625:Data Collection; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult