Introduction

In the broad perspective applied in Nordic welfare research, Swedish children and adolescents are generally well off. The majority are rich in material resources, have a high housing standard, are seldom subject to threatening events, do not have problems with schoolwork and have good relations with parents as well as peers (Jonsson and Östberg, 2001). The fact that problems in these areas are quite uncommon does, of course, not make the situation of the exposed groups less important. Furthermore, there is one area in which problems appear to be rather common. Several studies have shown that psychological health problems and psychosomatic complaints are frequent and more common today than one or two decades ago (Danielson, 2003; Berntsson and Köhler, 2001; see also Jonsson and Östberg, 2001). High levels of these types of complaint are not unique to Sweden; they exist in several other European countries (Currie et al, 2000; Haugland et al, 2001). It is worth aiming for a better understanding of these health problems and their causes; the Swedish government has now put forward psychological health problems among children as a public health issue that should be given special attention (Proposition, 2002).

Social class is generally a good point of departure in the search for causes of health problems and when our aim is to understand how society affects the health of its citizens (Marmot et al, 1987). Societal groupings typically involve differences in living conditions that may result in health disparities (Marmot, 2004). With regard to the psychological health of young people, however, social class differences have been shown to be small or non-existent (West, 1997; West and Sweeting, 2003). This is true also for Sweden (Östberg et al, 2006). Consequently, the living conditions of importance to these health problems are not closely connected to social class.

Psychological health problems and somatic complaints are, to some extent, believed to be stress-related (Natvig et al, 1999; Bovier et al, 2004), and one reason behind their increase may be a general intensification of stress in children’s and adolescents’ day-to-day life (Danielson and Marklund, 2000; NBHW, 2001; Torsheim and Wold, 2001a). It has been claimed that school, that is, children’s work environment, is one arena where conditions can cause stress among children (CO, 2004:03).