Žemaitaitytė, Monika

Purpose: Regular physical activity (PA) is a key protective factor for health in youths. The WHO recommends that adolescents do at least an average of 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and incorporate vigorous-intensity aerobic activities (VPA) at least three days a week. This study aims to explore and to examine association between physical activity and self-rated health assessment in adolescents in Lithuania for two decades. Methods: Data were collected during the six national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBCS) surveys in Lithuania during 2002–2022 (n = 42,260). Students were from 5th, 7th, 9th grades (11-to-15-years-old). The self-reported paper-pencil questionnaires were used to examine indicators such as self-rated health, MVPA and VPA, gender, grade, and family affluence (FAS). Multivariate logistic regressions were performed, adjusting by gender, grade, and FAS. Data analysis was conducted using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Fair and poor self-rated health and physical inactivity were the respective reference groups. Results: Analysing the dynamics of MVPA for the period of 2002–2022, a consistently changing situation was observed, VPA among boys remained relatively stable, while rates among girls gradually improved. Boys were consistently more likely to have sufficient daily MVPA and VPA at least four days a week compared to girls; similarly, 5th grade students and adolescents from the higher FAS group were more physically active (p < 0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that during the period of 2002–2022, VPA at least four days a week always was a significant predictor for good and excellent self-rated health assessment (odds ratio (OR) = 1.35–1.72), while daily MVPA was not such a relevant factor (2010 and 2018 became non-significant, p > 0.05). Conclusion: These results highlight the increasing importance of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activities in assessing adolescent health.

Paauglystė – sudėtingas laikotarpis, pasižymintis rizikingo elgesio apraiškomis, identiteto, gyvensenos ir socialinių ryšių formavimusi. Vaidmens modelio turėjimas paauglių pasirinkimus gali pakreipti tiek į sveikai gyvensenai palankią, tiek į žalingą pusę. Dėl to šiame tyrime Lietuvos moksleivių gyvensenos ir sveikatos tyrimo (HBSC) pagrindu buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti, kokius vaidmens modelius turi paaugliai ir kaip tai gali prognozuoti jų gyvensenos pasirinkimus. Tyrime dalyvavo 6628 5–11 klasių moksleiviai iš 124 Lietuvos mokyklų. Buvo vertinama, kokius vaidmens modelius turi paaugliai (jei turi) ir kaip tai prognozuoja jų miego trukmės, fizinio aktyvumo (kasdienio ir intensyvaus), mitybos, rūkymo, alkoholio vartojimo ir socialinių tinklų naudojimo rodiklius. Nustatyta, kad didžioji dalis (71 proc.) paauglių turi vaidmens modelius, dažniausiai šeimos narius (33 proc.), draugus (24 proc.), socialinių tinklų įžymybes (15 proc.), sportininkus (12 proc.) ir televizijos žvaigždes (11 proc.). Vaidmens modelio turėjimas dažniausiai prognozavo sveikai gyvensenai palankesnius pasirinkimus, labiausiai – šeimos nario (palankesni miego, fizinio aktyvumo ir sveikos mitybos rodikliai) ir sportininko (palankesni fizinio aktyvumo ir mitybos rodikliai) modeliai. Mažiausiai sveikai gyvensenai palankūs vaidmens modeliai buvo draugas (palankesni fizinio aktyvumo ir mitybos rodikliai, prastesni rūkymo ir socialinių tinklų naudojimo rodikliai) ir socialinių tinklų įžymybė (prastesni miego ir socialinių tinklų naudojimo rodikliai).

Paauglių polinkis bandyti – vienas iš raidos ir socialinės-kultūrinės aplinkos pažinimo etapų. Tai naujų patirčių ir atradimų laikotarpis, kurio metu vyksta vaiko virsmas suaugusiu žmogumi. Šis pažinimo etapas lydimas ir rizikingos elgsenos apraiškomis – bandymais vartoti legalias ar nelegalias psichiką veikiančias medžiagas. Alkoholis ir nikotino turintys gaminiai – dažniausios vaikų išbandomos ir vartojamos priklausomybę sukeliančios medžiagos. [...]. Lietuvos moksleivių gyvensenos ir sveikatos tyrimas (angl. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children; santr. HBSC) – vienas iš pagrindinių Pasaulio sveikatos organizacijos koordinuojamų paauglių gyvensenos ir sveikatos stebėsenos tyrimų Europoje, atliekamas pagal griežtą ir vieningą tarptautinį tyrimo protokolą. Šiame leidinyje pateikiami 1994–2022 m. Lietuvoje atlikto HBSC tyrimo rezultatai, ypatingą dėmesį skiriant pastarųjų metų rizikingo alkoholio ir nikotino gaminių vartojimo paplitimui. Specifinis Alkoholio ir kitų psichoaktyvių medžiagų vartojimo tyrimas [2] (angl. European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs; santr. ESPAD), kartu su reguliariu HBSC tyrimu, yra vieni iš didžiausių tokio tipo tyrimų Europoje, leidžiantys įvertinti galimas mokinių ir paauglių rizikingos elgsenos paplitimo tendencijas, jas palyginti skirtingų šalių kontekste. Šiame leidinyje žodis „rūkyti“ vartojamas bendrąja prasme, t. y. nusako įvairių tabako gaminių (įprastų cigarečių arba elektroninių cigarečių) vartojimą. Kalbant apie kiekvieną gaminį atskirai, nurodomi terminai: „rūkyti cigaretes“ arba „garinti elektronines cigaretes“. Kanapėms taip pat vartojamas žodis „rūkyti“, tačiau jos nepriskiriamos tabako gaminių kategorijai.

Background: Subjective health assessment in adolescents often reflects a person's health status quite accurately and also could predict their health condition in adulthood. In period of 2002–2022, Lithuanian adolescents’ self-rated health assessment had an improving trend until 2014 but then it started to deteriorate. Healthy lifestyle choices could be related to perceived health.

Objective: To analyze self-rated health and its associations with lifestyle choices among Lithuanian adolescents.

Method: Data were collected during the national HBCS surveys in Lithuania: 2014 (n=5730), 2018 (n=4191), and 2022 (n=5209). Students were from 5th, 7th, 9th grades. Surveys were conducted at schools during the lessons (all rounds in spring semester). The self-reported paper-pencil questionnaires were used to examine indicators such as self-rated health, vegetable consumption, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sleep difficulties, alcohol consumption, smoking, gender, grade, and family affluence. Data analysis was conducted using univariate and multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Girls consistently reported worse self-rated health compared to boys; similarly, 9th grade students, and adolescents from the lower FAS group evaluated their health as poorer (p<0.001). The multivariate analysis showed that from the analysed lifestyle factors for lower self-rated health, the most significant (p<0.001) was sleep difficulties (OR=2.42–3.28). Trends analysis (2014–2022) disclosed that irregular vegetable consumption, electronic cigarette use, and conventional cigarette smoking at the same time became relevant factors for self-rated health assessment (p<0.001), while present alcohol consumption became non-significant (p>0.05).

Conclusions: Poorer self-reported health consistently associated with worse lifestyle indicators such as sleep problems, insufficient physical activity, unhealthy eating behavior, and present smoking.

Background: Evaluating adolescents' subjective health assessment is crucial because it serves as a significant predictor of their overall well-being and life satisfaction. Recognizing how adolescents perceive their health can help identify those at risk for mental and physical health issues, enabling timely support and intervention.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze self-rated health and its associations with mental health indicators among Lithuanian adolescents.

Method: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee for LSMU Biomedical Research (No. BEC-M-05). Data were collected from Lithuanian schools in April–June 2022 during the national survey in Lithuania. The self-reported paper-pencil questionnaire was used to examine indicators such as self-rated health, well-being, loneliness, happiness, anxiety, health complaints, self-efficacy, gender, grade, and family affluence (FAS). The study sample comprised 6628 participants (aged 14.2±2.23 years) from 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades (51% boys). Data analysis was conducted using univariate and multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Girls consistently reported worse self-rated health compared to boys; also, higher-grade students had worse self-rated health. Girls, 9th grade students, and adolescents from the lower FAS group evaluated their health as poorer (p<0.001). The multivariate analysis showed (p<0.001) that lower self-rated health is was more likely in school-children with lower well-being (OR=2.43), somatic (OR=2.36), psychological (OR=1.99) complaints, lower happiness (OR=1.90), higher loneliness (OR=1.44), higher anxiety levels (OR=1.56), lower problem-solving abilities (OR=1.43), and difficulties in achieving personal goals (OR=1.41).

Conclusions: The findings demonstrate poorer self-reported health in girls and higher-grade students. Poorer subjective health consistently associates with worse mental health indicators and frequent health complaints.

Introduction. First sexual intercourse is a unique experience that affects many areas of young people’s lives, including self-perception. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to reveal the relationship between first sexual intercourse experiences and self-esteem. Methods. The study was approved with LSMU Bioethics Permit No. 2025-BEC2 0444 and conducted from March 26 to April 5, 2025 in public places in Kaunas and Alytus. Data were collected using a convenience sampling and cross-sectional survey. The questionnaire consisted of Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale and questions about first sexual intercourse. The study included 41 young adults (aged 18 to 25 years, average age 21.4 ± 1.55). Among them, 17.1% were men, 80.5% were women and 2.4% were other. Data were analyzed using descriptive and bivariate analysis, with a significance level of α = 0.05. Results. 82.5% of respondents indicated that they had sexual intercourse. The average age at first sexual intercourse was 18.2 ± 1.45, and the average age of their partners was 20.5 ± 4.21. 84.8% of respondents used a condom during their first sexual intercourse, 6.1% used other forms of protection. Self-esteem scores showed that 63% of individuals had moderate self-esteem, 32% had low self-esteem, and 5% – high self-esteem. Self-esteem scores did not vary by gender, age, education, or marital status. No differences were found between self-esteem groups regarding first sexual experiences.. A moderate correlation was found between preparation for first sexual intercourse and the total self-esteem score (ρ = 0.616; p < 0.001). There was also a weak positive correlation between the assessment of first sexual experiences and the overall self-esteem score (ρ = 0.350; p = 0.046). It was observed that individuals who felt pressure from the social environment had lower self esteem (χ2 = 2.640; p = 0.020). Conclusions. Greater preparation for first sexual intercourse and satisfaction with first sexual experiences are associated with higher self-esteem, while individuals with low self-esteem more often felt pressure from their environment, friends, or sexual partner to initiate sexual intercourse.

HBSC (angl. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children; santr. HBSC) - vienas iš pagrindinių paauglių gyvensenos ir sveikatos stebėsenos tyrimų Europoje, atliekamas pagal griežtą, vieningą tarptautinį tyrimo protokolą. Šis tyrimas vykdomas kas ketverius metus Pasaulio sveikatos organizacijos iniciatyva ir apima 50 Europos, Šiaurės Amerikos ir Azijos šalių. Lietuvoje šis tyrimas pradėtas vykdyti 1994 m. ir tęsiamas iki šiol. 2022 m. buvo atliktas aštuntasis tokio tipo tyrimas, leidžiantis įvertinti kelių dešimtmečių tendencijas. Šiame leidinyje pateikiami 2022 m. Lietuvoje atlikto HBSC tyrimo, kurį Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universiteto tyrėjai atliko 124 Lietuvos mokyklose, rezultatai. Leidinyje rodikliai nagrinėjami 1994-2022 m. perspektyvoje, ypatingą dėmesį skiriant pastarųjų metų tendencijoms. Čia taip pat pateikiama demografinių grupių analizė, siekiant išryškinti jaunuolių grupes, kurioms gali būti tikslingiau taikyti į sveikatą ir gerovę orientuotas priemones. Leidinyje pateikiami pagrindiniai Lietuvos moksleivių gyvensenos, sveikatos ir gerovės, rizikingos elgsenos ir socialinės aplinkos rodikliai. Tikimės, kad tyrimo rezultatai pasitarnaus ne tik kaip informacijos šaltinis mokslininkams ir tyrėjams, bet ir pasieks tuos, kurie tiesiogiai dalyvauja palaikant ir gerinant jaunų žmonių sveikatą bei gerovę - nacionalinės ir savivaldybių politikos formuotojams, mokyklų atstovams, asmens ir visuomenės sveikatos specialistams, moksleivių tėvams ir patiems moksleiviams. Ugdyti sveiką ateities kartą yra svarbu jau šiandien, kadangi tai atsilieps ne tik jų, bet ir visos visuomenės sveikatai bei gerovei.

Background: Previous research suggests that double entry is one of the most reliable methods for detecting entry errors. However, the effect of usual single-entry method on errors is rarely assessed. Our objective was to identify most common data entry errors and to assess how it relates to different characteristics of items, data entry clerks (DECs), and the data itself.

Methods: The data for our study was retrieved from the HBSC 2022 study in Lithuania. In total, 6730 questionnaires from grades 5–11 were manually entered twice into “Microsoft Excel” database by 27 different DECs. Differences between entries were identified as entry errors and were corrected through a third entry. Error types were identified and clustered into categories. For each category, average impact (average number of entries affected) was calculated. Errors per 1000 entries (error rate) were calculated for each question and its characteristic (e. g. number of response options).

Results: Total error rate was 3.9 (5.6 in the 5-7th grade questionnaire, 2.3 in the 9-11th grade questionnaire). In total, 29 types of errors were identified, with average impact ranging from 1.0 to 5.1 entries. Error rates by question varied from 0.1 to 24.6, error rates by question characteristic varied from 1.1 to 16.9. Depending on the occupation of DEC, error rate per one HBSC questionnaire varied 0.3 to 5.6.

Conclusions: Double data entry method allowed to avoid 3.9 errors per 1000 entries. Occupation of DEC and question characteristics were found to be significant variables associated with differences in error rates."

Recent events in Europe, like the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Russo–Ukrainian War (RUW), might have sparked anxiety among adolescents. This study aimed to compare anxiety levels in Lithuanian adolescents post-COVID-19 peak (Study 1, October 2021) and during the onset of the RUW (Study 2, April–June 2022). Data from 459 participants in Study 1 and 6637 in Study 2, aged 11–17, were collected through HBSC pilot and national surveys in Lithuania. Self-reported questionnaires assessed anxiety, social media use, stress, loneliness, self-efficacy, and peer support factors. Analysis was conducted using multivariable logistic regressions. Notably, anxiety prevalence in Lithuanian adolescents showed no significant difference between Study 1 and Study 2, stabilizing around 24%. In 2021, stress (OR = 5.89, 95% CI 3.11–11.17), problematic social media use (OR = 4.58, 95% CI 1.89–10.58), and female gender (OR = 2.87, 95% CI 1.58–5.22) significantly predicted anxiety. By 2022, stress (OR = 3.68, 95% CI 3.14–4.30), loneliness (OR = 2.85, 95% CI 2.43–3.35), and lower self-efficacy (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.20–1.60) emerged as important predictors. This study enhances our understanding of adolescent anxiety during crises, emphasizing the urgency of addressing multiple factors to manage and support vulnerable youth.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most significant aspects in which both direct and family exposure to COVID-19 and measures taken to contain the pandemic may have had short- and long-term effects on adolescent well-being, health, and health behavior. This study aims to explore how COVID-19 pandemic exposure has affected different areas of adolescent life from their perspective.Methods: Data was gathered from general education and vocational schools during the HBSC national survey in Lithuania from April to June 2022. The study involved 6628 participants (50.3% boys, mean age 14.1 ± 2.24 years). The overall sample consisted of children from grades 5 to 11 in Lithuania. The self-report questionnaire was used to ask adolescents to report subjective perceptions of COVID-19 exposure impact (themselves or someone in a close family) on ten areas of their lives. The primary analysis was conducted using multivariate binary logistic regression. The results were adjusted by gender, age and family’s socioeconomic status.Results: Overall, 63.2% of adolescents reported being infected by COVID-19, and 74.9% had to self-isolate due to illness or contact with an infected person. Also, 81.6% indicated that the virus infected someone in their close family, and 13.5% had been treated in hospital. Most adolescents experienced neutral or negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in each area. 57.2% of adolescents reported negative results in 1–5 (up to half) of the areas of their lives, and 14.4% had negative impacts in 6–10 (most) areas. More than a third of adolescents indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted their lives in general, mental health, school performance, [Table 1], and physical activity. Multivariate logistic regression showed that COVID-19 exposure when some-one in a close family had been treated in a hospital was the highest risk factor for negative impact in most adolescent life areas (OR=1.70, p<0.001) and was identified as a significant predictor of negative impact in all ten adolescents areas except for physical activity (Table 1).Conclusions: These findings emphasize that different experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, both personal and family, may have had different effects on various areas of adolescents’ lives, especially when young people had to experience the hospitalisation of their close family members.