Abstract
Adolescents’ mental health is a global issue and there is a growing interest in tackling mental health in schools. The study aimed to assess secondary school pupils’ mental wellbeing and the factors related to their mental wellbeing (sociodemographic characteristics, perception of belonging to a minority, and discrimination). Data were collected from 12–17-year-old pupils of a Finnish secondary school via an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and ANOVA for group comparisons. Participants’ (Ν = 114) mental wellbeing scores were above average (47.5, max. 70). Worse family relations were independently associated with worse mental wellbeing. Additionally, significantly lower scores on mental wellbeing were found among pupils who thought they belonged to a minority due to appearance, sexual orientation, and/or chronic disease. Participants who had experienced discrimination had significantly lower mental wellbeing scores in comparison to those who never had such an experience. In conclusion, mental health promotion interventions which promote good family relations should be targeting different youth groups in order to address their specific needs. Thus, screening programs which identify pupils who are at risk or belong to minority groups are needed, in order to direct them to proper services when needed and/or implement mental health promotion interventions accordingly.
Highlights
Accepted: 18 January 2021Research shows that mental wellbeing declines as young people move through adolescence, while it is shown that adolescents with good emotional and physical health tend to cope with the challenges of adolescence and have an easier transition into adulthood [1].Adolescents’ mental health is a global issue and there is a growing interest in tackling mental health in schools [2]
In terms of sociodemographic variables, higher mean scores of mental wellbeing were found among female adolescents, aged more than 16 years, whose mothers worked, whose father’s educational level was ≤12 years and mother’s educational level was more than
Lower mean scores of mental wellbeing were found in adolescents living with one parent and rating pressure from homework as “Enough” or “Very much” (Table 2)
Summary
Accepted: 18 January 2021Research shows that mental wellbeing declines as young people move through adolescence, while it is shown that adolescents with good emotional and physical health tend to cope with the challenges of adolescence and have an easier transition into adulthood [1].Adolescents’ mental health is a global issue and there is a growing interest in tackling mental health in schools [2]. In order to implement successful interventions, adolescents are important to consider [3], as well as the factors affecting their mental wellbeing. There is some knowledge concerning the factors associated with mental wellbeing among different age groups. The growing environment [4] and social support in general [5]. Are related to both adults’ and children’s wellbeing. The positive role of social support in wellbeing is apparent in various studies with adolescents [7,8]. Children’s low levels of wellbeing are associated with living with only one parent or having conflicts in the family [5,9] which has shown the strongest association with child unhappiness [10]
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