title: Association between sense of coherence in adolescence and social benefits later in life: a 12-year follow-up study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Local government concerns over expenditure on social and healthcare are growing. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between a weak 'sense of coherence' (SOC) in teens and their subsequent risk of receiving social and healthcare benefits during young adulthood, and to monitor how SOC developed during this period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  North Denmark Region.
  
  
  METHODS
  773 Pupils from seventh and eighth forms who answered a questionnaire in 1998.
  
  
  METHODS
  Different social benefits (from the Danish DREAM database embracing disbursed public social benefits). Change in SOC score from 1998 to 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  722 had answered seven items of the original SOC-13 questionnaire (denoted by SOC-7). Girls with a weak SOC-7 (the lowest 1st quartile) in 1998 had a significantly increased risk of receiving unemployment benefits (RR 1.3 (1.1 to 1.6)), social assistance (RR 1.8 (1.3 to 2.5)) and sickness benefits (RR 1.5 (1.2 to 2.0)) compared with girls with a strong SOC-7. For boys, only minor protective and non-significant differences were found. The SOC answers from 1998 and 2010 were compared (n=394). SOC increased significantly and mostly in girls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SOC-7 may serve as a predictor for social life event outcomes and hence facilitate an early identification and a selective approach to support teenage girls with a weak SOC. From adolescence to young adulthood, SOC-7 was of a relatively unstable nature.
authors: Department of Social Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark Department of Occupational Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors: Else Toft
authors: ET
authors: Würtz
authors: Department of Social Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark Faculty of Medicine, Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors: Kirsten
authors: K
authors: Fonager
authors: Department of Social Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors: Jens Tølbøll
authors: JT
authors: Mortensen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; PUBLIC HEALTH; SOCIAL MEDICINE
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