SALUTOGENIC CHILDHOOD FACTORS REPORTED BY MIDDLE-AGED INDIVIDUALS - FOLLOW-UP OF THE CHILDREN FROM THE LUNDBY STUDY GROWN UP IN FAMILIES EXPERIENCING 3 OR MORE CHILDHOOD PSYCHIATRIC RISK-FACTORS

This study is salutogenic (= causes of health), focusing on factors wh ich corresponded to good mental health in subjects who had been expose d to at least three child psychiatric risk factors when growing up. Th e material was drawn from a prospective, longitudinal population study on mental health, the Lundby Study, which was performed in three wave s in 1947, 1957 and 1972. In 1988/89, 148 individuals then 42-56 years of age, were re-visited and interviewed about their life span experie nces. Factors previously found to increase stress resilience in childr en and adolescents were identified. The personal dispositions during c hildhood found to be associated with adult positive mental health were childhood positive self-esteem, successful coping, internal locus of control and intellectual capacity. Childhood family factors, such as t rusting relations with a parent and shared values, were also important . Antonovsky's sense of coherence model can be used to explain the mec hanisms by which the different variables can lead to health through in creasing an individual's capacity for comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness, the three concepts of sense of coherence.