Young People's Mental Well-being Research Articles

Climate change concerns impact on young Australians’ psychological distress and outlook for the future

AimsClimate change is escalating and will disproportionately affect young people. Research on the mental health consequences of worry or concerns related to climate change are so far limited. This study aims to evaluate the extent of climate change concern in young people aged 15–19, its association with various demographic factors and its impact on psychological distress and future outlook. Understanding the impact of climate concerns on young people's mental wellbeing is crucial for identifying effective measures and building resilience. MethodsClimate concerns, psychological distress, and future outlook were measured in the 2022 Mission Australia Youth Survey, Australia's largest annual population-wide survey of young people aged 15 to 19 (N = 18,800). Multinomial logistic regression models were used to map factors associated with climate concerns and assess whether climate concerns are associated with psychological distress and future outlook. ResultsOne in four young people reported feeling very or extremely concerned about climate change. Climate concerns were higher among individuals identifying as female or gender diverse, or who self-reported a mental health condition. After controlling for confounding factors, we found those who were very or extremely concerned about climate change to be more likely to have high psychological distress than those not at all concerned (Relative risk ratio (RRR) = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.56–2.11), and more likely to have a negative future outlook (RRR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.27–1.81). These associations were stronger among participants who reported to be gender diverse, Indigenous or from outer-regional/remote areas. ConclusionThis study identified associations between climate concerns, psychological distress, and future outlook among young people. Immediate attention from research and policy sectors to support climate change education, communication strategies and targeted interventions is urgently required to mitigate long-term impacts on young people's wellbeing.

Mental well-being and physical activity of young people experiencing homelessness before and during COVID-19 lockdown: A longitudinal study

BackgroundWhile lockdown restrictions in response to COVID-19 indisputably mitigated virus transmission, the aim of this longitudinal study was to establish indirect effects on vulnerable young people's mental well-being and physical activity (PA) levels. MethodsSurveys conducted at time 1 (February 2020), and time 2 (April 2020) comprised of the short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and self-reported moderate and vigorous PA levels. Repeated measures analyses established changes pre-post lockdown restrictions, and differences between sub-groups. Associations between changes in well-being, self-esteem and PA over time were explored through further regression analyses. Results65 respondents completed the survey at time 1, and 50 respondent at time 2. Wellbeing increased significantly over time, yet remained significantly lower than the population average. Self-esteem increased significantly post-lockdown, however remained significantly lower for females, compared with males. Overall, PA levels increased-whereby ‘inactive’ participants at time 1 reported significant increases in moderate and total activity levels at time 2. Increased PA levels significantly predicted increased well-being: F(1, 48) = 4.15, p < .05; while participants who had become less active accounted for 69.2% with low self-esteem at time 2. ConclusionsFindings indicate that increased PA accounted for improved mental well-being, while decreased PA was associated with reduced levels of self-esteem. PA may represent a modifiable means of mitigating risk, and promoting resilience for vulnerable young people experiencing adverse conditions.

A longitudinal view of rumination, poor sleep and psychological distress in adolescents

BackgroundGiven the high prevalence and negative impact of psychological problems during adolescence, examining transdiagnostic factors that may have scope to positively influence a variety of psychological problems is imperative. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal relationship between rumination and psychological distress and whether sleep mediated this relationship over a 2 year period. MethodsParticipants were 1620 high school students in the 7th and 8th grade at baseline from 17 public schools in three middle Sweden communities. Students completed questionnaires at school during the spring of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Rumination and psychological distress were self-reported, and sleep duration was calculated from reported bed-times, wake-times and sleep onset latencies. ResultsSleep duration declined with age, whereas rumination and psychological distress increased. Rumination was predictive of future psychological distress and distress at a given time was predictive of concurrent rumination. Sleep duration did not consistently mediate the reciprocal relationships between rumination and psychological distress over time. LimitationsStronger longitudinal associations may have been obtained by using smaller measurement intervals or further delineation of outcome constructs. ConclusionsReducing rumination, rather than targeting sleep patterns, may work towards preventing the development of a number of psychological problems and is a strategy anticipated to function across disorders to improve young people's mental wellbeing.

Promoting equity in the mental wellbeing of children and young people: a scoping review.

There is increasing emphasis on wellbeing as a target for mental health promotion, especially during the formative period of childhood. Despite growing research on the importance of mental wellbeing, there is little information on how to effectively promote it or how to promote it equitably. This article presents a scoping review of interventions which seek to promote mental wellbeing and reduce inequities in children and young people living in high income countries. We used Fair Foundations: The VicHealth framework for health equity (VicHealth (2013) Melbourne, Australia: The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation) to identify points of entry at three layers of influence: (i) socioeconomic, cultural and political contexts, (ii) daily living conditions, and (iii) individual and family health-related factors. We identified more than 1000 interventions which aimed to prevent or treat childhood mental illness, but there were far fewer that aimed to promote children's or young people's mental wellbeing. The interventions we studied were either universal or specifically targeted children from disadvantaged families: none explicitly used an equity framework to guide their design or evaluation or addressed social gradients in wellbeing. Most interventions remained focused on proximate factors, although we also identified a handful of interventions that sought to address children's access to services and their educational and neighbourhood environments. However, we found encouraging evidence that interventions in family and educational settings were successful in building children's strengths and supporting positive parenting, universally and within disadvantaged groups. Such positive programme evaluations signal the potential for using a proportionate universalism approach that emphasizes equity in the promotion of mental wellbeing.

Service Users’ Experiences of a Brief Intervention Service for Children and Adolescents: A Service Evaluation

Ten per cent of young people experience mental health difficulties at any one time. Prevention and early intervention leads to better prognosis for young people's mental well-being in the short and long term. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) must be able to provide swift and effective interventions for a range of difficulties to meet this need. This paper presents a service evaluation of the Brief Intervention Service in North Lincolnshire CAMHS. Nine young people and/or their families took part in semi-structured interviews that aimed to explore their experiences of receiving an intervention from the service. Template analysis was carried out to draw out themes from the interview transcripts. The three a priori themes were treatment outcomes, areas for potential improvement, and things that are working well; and an additional two emergent themes were emotional experience and managing practical barriers. In addition, all participants were asked about their satisfaction with the service and whether they would recommend the service to others. One hundred per cent reported feeling respected by their clinician when asked directly, and all felt that the service would be helpful for other young people and families. Overall, families were satisfied with the service and reported outcomes including improvements in symptomatology and family functioning. Specific recommendations as to how the service could be improved were made, which related to difficulties accessing the service, the content of the sessions, and communication within the service and with other services.

Mental health in sport: coaches' views of their role and efficacy in supporting young people's mental health

This study aimed to investigate coaches' awareness of mental health in youth sport, as well as their perceived role breadth and ability to support young people's mental health. Interviews were conducted with 13 sports coaches of young people aged 12–18 from Canberra, Australia. Interview transcripts were analysed using a combination of inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis. Coaches recognised that their role breadth allows them to be a useful source of support for young people's mental health by way of identifying concerns, facilitating help-seeking behaviour and promoting engagement in sports. Further training in mental health would boost coaches' ability to assist confidently and effectively, leading to benefits for young people's mental wellbeing and sporting experience. Coaches are in a position to positively impact young people's mental health, and set expectations for themselves to actively support young people in this way. Supporting mental health may be an area of future growth for the role of a youth sports coach.

It's making us look disgusting…and it makes me feel like a mink…it makes me feel depressed!: using photovoice to help ‘see’ and understand the perspectives of disadvantaged young people about the neighbourhood determinants of their mental well-being

There is growing recognition that poor adolescent mental well-being is a serious global health issue. Research exploring adult mental well-being issues has shown positive and negative associations with environmental factors such as quality of the neighbourhoods and social support. However, little is known about young people's notions of mental well-being, or factors they associate with generating, sustaining or eroding it. A qualitative community-based participatory research study was conducted using photovoice (PV), with young people attending a youth project based in a deprived inner-city neighbourhood in Scotland. The research enabled participants to identify and explore aspects of their neighbourhood they experienced as having a direct impact on their mental well-being. The following themes emerged as those most important to participants' mental well-being: (1) perceived levels of local neighbourhood investment and care; (2) access to various forms of capital (including social, economic and natural capital) and (3) fears about personal safety. Concerns about being perceived as poor by others and feeling neglected by city officials and councillors also pervaded participants' accounts. Young people actively engaged in this research and helped generate rich, contextualised data about their lives and neighbourhoods. Moreover, they identified feasible, locally based remedies to perceived problems. PV is a powerful tool for engaging disadvantaged adolescents in research about their health. This study revealed that there are several important and modifiable aspects of the neighbourhood environment that if remedial actions were taken, it could have a beneficial effect on young people's mental well-being.

Mental well-being and subjective health of 11- to 15-year-old boys and girls in Scotland, 1994-2006

Promoting young people's mental well-being and reducing socioeconomic inequalities are priority areas for WHO and the Scottish Government. This article describes changes in the subjective health and mental well-being of adolescents living in Scotland between 1994 and 2006, and investigates socioeconomic inequalities in mental well-being and subjective health over time. Data from the 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children surveys were analysed using Multilevel Binomial modelling. Boys and younger adolescents scored more favourably on measures of confidence, happiness, helplessness and feeling left out than girls and older adolescents. Multiple health complaints (MHC) were also more prevalent among girls than boys. Significant increases over time were observed for all mental well-being measures among girls and for all but confidence among boys. Similarly, there was a significant decrease in odds of MHC over time for both boys and girls. There were no socioeconomic inequalities in any of the five outcomes in 1998. However by 2006, socioeconomic inequalities in young people's happiness, confidence and MHC emerged, while inequalities in girls' helplessness also approached significance. Between 1998 and 2006 significant increases in socioeconomic inequalities in happiness and MHC were observed and increases in feeling left out also approached significance. Adolescent mental well-being and subjective health in Scotland is improving. However, gender differences persist and socioeconomic inequalities are emerging for some measures, suggesting that a longer term monitoring of mental well-being and subjective health in Scotland is required.