Table 4.

Odds ratios for changes in mental health and well-being measures over time, by age group and sex. Health Survey for England, 1995–2014

	Total				Males				Females
	Odds ratio/β coefficient	Confidence interval		p value	Odds ratio/β coefficient	Confidence interval		p value	Odds ratio/β coefficient	Confidence interval		p value
	4–12 years old
Parent-reported general health	0.965	0.957	0.972	<0.001	0.966	0.956	0.976	<0.001	0.963	0.952	0.973	<0.001
Mental health condition	1.071	1.058	1.083	<0.001	1.076	1.061	1.091	<0.001	1.055	1.030	1.081	<0.001
Long-standing illness	0.977	0.973	0.982	<0.001	0.980	0.974	0.985	<0.001	0.974	0.968	0.981	<0.001
SDQE binary	0.973	0.964	0.982	<0.001	0.978	0.965	0.991	0.001	0.968	0.956	0.980	<0.001
SDQE	−0.024	−0.029	−0.018	<0.001	−0.021	−0.028	−0.014	<0.001	−0.026	−0.034	−0.019	<0.001
SDQT binary	0.979	0.969	0.988	<0.001	0.977	0.965	0.989	<0.001	0.981	0.966	0.996	0.014
SDQT	−0.093	−0.109	−0.078	<0.001	−0.101	−0.124	−0.079	<0.001	−0.085	−0.105	−0.064	<0.001
	13–15 years old
Self-reported general health	0.973	0.962	0.984	<0.001	0.976	0.960	0.993	0.005	0.970	0.954	0.986	<0.001
Mental health condition	1.084	1.061	1.107	<0.001	1.087	1.059	1.116	<0.001	1.078	1.039	1.118	<0.001
Long-standing illness	0.974	0.966	0.981	<0.001	0.975	0.964	0.985	<0.001	0.972	0.962	0.983	<0.001
SDQE binary	0.978	0.962	0.994	0.006	0.982	0.956	1.008	0.165	0.976	0.956	0.997	0.026
SDQE	−0.022	−0.032	−0.012	<0.001	−0.011	−0.024	0.002	0.112	−0.031	−0.045	−0.016	<0.001
SDQT binary	0.999	0.981	1.018	0.910	0.995	0.971	1.020	0.703	1.003	0.975	1.031	0.861
SDQT	−0.049	−0.078	−0.020	0.001	−0.048	−0.089	−0.006	0.024	−0.053	−0.092	−0.013	0.009
GHQ binary	1.010	0.998	1.022	0.099	1.014	0.995	1.034	0.159	1.009	0.994	1.024	0.250
GHQ	0.002	−0.005	0.009	0.593	−0.001	−0.009	0.008	0.837	0.006	−0.006	0.017	0.324
	16–24 years old
Self-reported general health	0.987	0.980	0.994	<0.001	0.978	0.967	0.989	<0.001	0.993	0.984	1.002	0.145
Mental health condition	1.087	1.072	1.102	<0.001	1.091	1.068	1.114	<0.001	1.084	1.064	1.103	<0.001
Long-standing illness	0.982	0.977	0.988	<0.001	0.979	0.971	0.987	<0.001	0.984	0.977	0.991	<0.001
GHQ binary	0.989	0.981	0.997	0.005	0.996	0.982	1.009	0.508	0.984	0.975	0.994	0.002
GHQ	−0.016	−0.023	−0.010	<0.001	−0.012	−0.020	−0.003	0.007	−0.021	−0.031	−0.011	<0.001
WEMWBS	−0.109	−0.308	0.090	0.283	−0.212	−0.498	0.075	0.148	−0.042	−0.316	0.232	0.762

SDQT, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Total Score (binary score 0–16 v. 17–36); SDQE, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Emotion Score (binary score 0–4 v. 5–10); GHQ, General Health Questionnaire (binary score 0–3 v. 4–12); WEMWBS, Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Health and Wellbeing Score.

For all binary variables, odds ratios show the change in odds per year over the study period. Values >1 indicate increasing odds of poor health over time. For scale variables (SDQE, SDQT, WEMWBS), the β coefficient represents the change in score per year over time. Positive values indicate increasing number of symptoms (SDQT, SDQE) or increasing well-being score (WEMWBS).