Sociodemographic, Lifestyle, and Psychological Factors Associated With Flourishing Mental Health in Young Adults: Facteurs sociodémographiques, liés au mode de vie et psychologiques, associés à une bonne santé mentale chez les jeunes adultes.

OBJECTIVE

To identify sociodemographic, lifestyle, and psychological correlates of flourishing mental health (i.e., feeling good and functioning well) in a population-based sample of young adults.

METHOD: Data for this cross-sectional study were drawn from the ongoing Nicotine Dependance in Teens study, Québec, Canada. Of 799 participants in cycle 23, 792 (mean (SD) age = 30.6 (1.0) years) provided data on positive mental health using the Mental Health Continuum - Short Form (MHC-SF) and were retained for analysis. Each potential correlate was studied in an unadjusted model, a model adjusted for age and sex, and a model adjusted for age, sex and other covariates related to the specific correlate of interest.

RESULTS

Of 792 participants retained for analysis, 39.4% (39.9% of females; 38.8% of males) reported flourishing mental health. Variables associated with higher odds of flourishing included attended university (OR: 1.44 [1.05, 1.99]), being in a relationship (OR: 1.64 [1.22, 2.21], being employed (OR: 1.97 [1.27, 3.11]), high sleep quality (OR: 3.45 [2.53, 4.73]), meeting leisure screen time guidelines (OR: 2.12 [1.59, 2.85]), and relatively high levels of coping ability (OR: 3.11 [2.58, 3.80]). Variables associated with lower odds of flourishing included living alone (OR: 0.58 [0.38, 0.86]), relatively low household income (OR: 0.37 [0.20, 0.64]), and high depressive (OR: 0.05 [0.01, 0.15]) and anxiety (0.17 [0.09, 0.29]) symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Sociodemographic (education, relationship status, employment status, and income), lifestyle (sleep, screen time), and psychological (coping ability, depressive and anxiety symptoms) factors are correlates of flourishing mental health in this population-based sample of young adults. Results provide a foundation for future research to inform the development of effective programs targeting specific subgroups to promote positive mental health in young adults.