Social media use is one of the most popular leisure activities among adolescents. Concomitant to this is a growing concern regarding problematic social media use and its relationship with health behaviors. To further increase the body of research into this phenomenon, our study explored the relationship between problematic social media use and physical activity levels, sleep peculiarities, and life satisfaction in Lithuanian children and adolescents. The study was conducted in April to June 2018 during the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey in Lithuania, a collaborative project of the World Health Organization. The sample comprised 4,191 school children (mean age 13.9 ± 1.69 years). The findings show that problematic social media use associates with about two times higher odds for worse sleep quality and lower life satisfaction. Problematic social media use was related to lower levels of vigorous physical activity in girls, but the possible effect on moderate physical activity was in boys and was inverse—boys with problematic social media use reported higher levels of moderate physical activity. Overall, in our study, girls with problematic social media use tended to have more negative health perceptions than boys. The results suggest that problematic social media use is an independent risk factor for negative health behaviors. This study adds to the accumulating knowledge that problematic social media use among adolescents may lead to worse health perceptions and, likely, further negative health outcomes.

The study aims to assess the role of social support, sociocultural adjustment, and other social and demographic factors in international students' mental health. In total, 193 international first-year students studying Health and Technology Sciences in Lithuania filled out a self-report questionnaire. The study revealed that overall 59% of international students had symptoms of depression and 36%—of anxiety. Students' well-being was sufficient in 56% of the cases. The regression analyses were conducted to test the role of sociocultural adjustment, social support, English reading skills, and the study field for mental health and well-being. The multivariate regression model revealed that sociocultural adjustment is a stronger predictor compared to social support for depressiveness (βs = 0.42), anxiety (βs = 0.30), psychosomatic symptoms (βs = − 0.24), and subjective health (βs = 0.16), though social support was a stronger independent predictor for well-being (βs = 0.37). Moreover, sociocultural adjustment and social support were stronger predictors than gender, while English reading skills and study field were non-significant indicators.

Background: This study aims to explore how sufficient social support can act as a possible preventive factor against fighting and bullying in school-aged children in 9 European countries. Methods: Data for this study were collected during the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. The sample consisted of 9 European countries, involving 43,667 school children in total, aged 11, 13 and 15 years. The analysed data focus on social context (relations with family, peers, and school) as well as risk behaviours such as smoking, drunkenness, fighting and bullying in adolescents. The relationships between social support and violent behaviour variables were estimated using multiple regression models and multivariate analyses. Results: Bullying, across 9 countries, was more prevalent than fighting, except for Armenia, Israel, and Poland. The prevalence among countries differed considerably, with fighting being most expressed in Armenia and bullying—in Latvia and Lithuania. The strongest risk factors for bullying and fighting were male gender (less expressed for bullying), smoking and alcohol consumption. In addition, for bullying the social support was similarly strong factor like above-mentioned factors, while for fighting—less significant, but still independent. All forms of social support were significantly relate with lower violent behaviour of school children, and family support was associated most strongly. Regardless the socioeconomic, historical, and cultural differences among selected countries, the enhancement and reinforcement of the social support from possible many different resources should be taken into consideration in prevention programs against school violence behaviours.

Background: Happiness is becoming increasingly relevant in recent research, including adolescents. Many studies are using the single-item measure for adolescent happiness, however, its validity is not well known. We aimed to examine the validity of this measure among adolescents in three countries from distinct European regions – Eastern (Lithuania), Southern (Portugal), and Western (Scotland).Materials and Methods: The analysis included data from Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study from three countries and three last surveys (2009/10, 2013/14, and 2017/18). The total sample comprised 47,439 schoolchildren. For validity, the indicators reflecting subjective health, life satisfaction, quality of life, well-being, social support, health complaints, bullying, and self-directed violence were assessed. The calculations were conducted in the total sample and by gender, age, survey year, and country.Results: The different indicators of concurrent and convergent validity revealed consistent correlations with happiness, with better well-being, health, and subjective perceptions being related to higher happiness. Meanwhile, health complaints, bullying behaviors, and self-directed violence were related to lower happiness. The subgroup differences were consistent across gender, age groups, countries, and survey rounds. The extent of differences was more expressed among girls.Conclusion: The single item for adolescent happiness measurement features a consistent pattern of validity concerning indicators of concurrent and convergent validity. Higher self-reported happiness is associated with better mental and physical health and well-being, and less expressed negative factors (complaints, bullying, and self-directed violence). In addition, among girls the correlations tend to be stronger than boys.

Background: Happiness is a phenomenon that relates to better mental and physical health and even longevity. There has been an increase in surveys assessing subjective well-being as well as happiness, one of the well-being components that reflect one’s feelings or moods. Happiness is mostly measured in adult samples. There is a lack of an overview of the tools used to evaluate adolescent happiness, so this paper aimed to review them. Methods: A literature search was performed in the PubMed and PsycArticles databases (2010–2019). In total, 133 papers met the eligibility criteria for this systematic review. Results: The results are grouped according to the type of measure, single or multiple items, that was used in a study. Almost half of the studies (64 of 133) evaluated subjective happiness using single-item measures. The most commonly used scales were the 4-item Subjective Happiness Scale and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Among the 133 articles analyzed, 18 reported some validation procedures related to happiness. However, in the majority of cases (14 studies), happiness was not the central phenomenon of validation, which suggests a lack of happiness validation studies. Conclusions: Finally, recommendations for future research and for the choice of happiness assessment tools are presented.