Mental health of young adults in East- and West Germany

Background: Although positive mental health (MH) is a key concept for salut ogenesis, longitudinal analyses of its development are lacking. Objective: Investigation of antecedent factors for development of MH measur ed by questionnaire vs. clinical expert ratings in Eastern and Western Germ any. Methods: The sample consisted of 525 25-year-olds from Eastern and Western Germany investigated as part of two prospective longitudinal studies. Results: Both forms of assessment showed considerable overlap. MII was sign ificantly better in the Restock (East) sample; moreover women's MH was bett er than that of men. Recent influences generally showed greater predictive power for MH with 25 years than earlier predictors. Conclusions: Sociopolitical and gender differences are important. Despite t he greater influence of recent factors, some risks still show influence ove r 25 years.