The ARCH Lab recently published another paper using data from the Multimorbidity in Youth across the Life-course (MY LIFE) study titled “Self-concept in Adolescents with Physical-Mental Comorbidity” in the Journal of Multimorbidity and Comorbidity.

Authors analyzed data from 116 adolescents aged 10+ years with chronic physical illness, recruited from outpatient clinics at a pediatric hospital . The purpose of this paper was to explore the association between physical-mental comorbidity and self-concept. Self-concept is an important psychological construct that encompasses perceived identity and self-evaluation of characteristics relative to others across various domains (physical appearance, social acceptance, behavior, athleticism, and academic capability).

Analysis revealed that those youth with comorbidities exhibited lower self-concept scores on both the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) in comparison to their counterparts without comorbidities. Importantly, an age x comorbidity interaction was discovered, prompting further investigation. Subsequent analysis demonstrated that older adolescents with comorbidities showed a significant decline in SDQ and SPPC scores (indicating lower self-concept), while this association was not evident in younger adolescents.

This finding highlights the clinical significance tailoring interventions to foster positive self-perceptions during the transition from pediatric to adult health services.