The teenage years are a critical transition period into early adulthood, characterized by increasing independence and identity exploration. During this period, one faces challenges related to academic pressures, educational reflections and changing social dynamics. Mental health issues can arise due to stress, self-expectations and societal demands. Socialization processes evolve as peer relationships become more complex, romantic relationships develop, and family influence changes.
From August 2016 to November 2017, adolescents from the CCC2000 cohort were invited to complete a web-based questionnaire and to subsequently participate in a physical survey, resulting in 2,614 completed questionnaires and 1,549 surveys. The questionnaire covered various aspects of mental health, including depression, anxiety, bodily stress with non-specific physical symptoms, eating disorders, psychosis experiences and substance use, along with general well-being, personality traits and lifestyle factors. The studies included cognitive tests, bio-metric measurements and hair cortisol analysis. As part of the CCC2000 Eye Study, 1,445 adolescents underwent eye examinations.
The results showed that some children who reported subclinical hypomania at age 11 continued to experience it at age 16. Early psychosis experiences and cannabis use stood out as key factors that increased the likelihood of reporting subclinical hypomania in late adolescence. This suggests that these factors may be warning signs for future mental disorders, including bipolar disorder.
Regarding bodily stress expressed by functional somatic symptoms and health anxiety, results at ages 16-17 showed strong associations between psychosis experiences, functional somatic symptoms, and health anxiety, supporting the idea of possible overlapping me-channels underlying these symptom domains. Furthermore, functional somatic symptoms in pre- and late puberty may increase and co-occur with anxiety and depression throughout adolescence. Functional somatic symptoms in late adolescence, as also shown in adults, appear to cluster into cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal and general symptom patterns in late adolescence. Finally, a small subset of adolescents reported persistent health anxiety from late childhood to adolescence, which was associated with increased healthcare costs.
Concerning eating problems at age 16, findings from the CCC2000 indicate that binge-eating disorder (BED) is prevalent in this age group and associated with indicators of poor mental health and overall impact, which highlights the need for clinical attention and early intervention in late adolescence.
As with psychotic experiences, eating problems appear to be associated with lower health-related quality of life and higher healthcare costs. These results highlight that psychosis experiences may represent a useful clinical marker of psychopathology and associated risk behaviors.
Finally, the results of somatic development, particularly in relation to the eye, at ages 16-17 suggest an association between arterial wall thickness and lumen size in the eye and higher body fat levels. Furthermore, prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke increased the risk of obesity, and in girls it was also associated with thicker retinal artery walls, suggesting a higher risk of heart and metabolic problems later in life. Having a thin choroid (a layer in the eye) at age 11 did not predict eye elongation or nearsightedness (myopia) later at age 16. The choroid thickened from age 11 to 16, with greater thickening in girls who matured later and less thickening in eyes that became longer and more myopic. More physical activity helped protect against myopia, while excessive near work (like screen time or reading) increased the risk.
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