Examining boys’ and girls’ health-related quality of life from the first to the third year of upper secondary school: A prospective longitudinal study

Abstract

Aim: To examine differences in health-related quality of life between boys and girls in the first and third years of upper secondary school. Design: Prospective longitudinal study. Methods: The KIDSCREEN-10 was used to assess health-related quality of life. Differences in health-related quality of life over time were estimated using a linear mixed-effects model for correlated measurements. Results: In the first-year boys (N = 168) and girls (N = 228) reported a mean health-related quality of life score of 76.3 (SD 10.7) and 69.8 (SD 11.5), respectively. In the third year, the mean health-related quality of life score for boys and girls was 73.5 (SD 12.4) and 65.7 (SD 13.3), respectively. Boys had a significant decrease in health-related quality of life mean score of −2.6 and girls a significant decrease of −3.8 (p