It wasn’t just the virus that spread throughout the pandemic – anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns saw a worrying rise as well. But latest research from my colleagues and I confirms there had already been a considerable increase in emotional problems amongst young people even before COVID-19.
Adolescence is an age when persons are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, which can then proceed into maturity. Studies have highlighted concerning trends showing a steep rise in mental health issues in recent many years.
However, the explanations most incessantly given for this rise, resembling changes in family life, school aspects and social media, don’t fully explain all the problems.
We desired to know if rates of emotional problems had increased in young people in Wales between 2013 and 2019 – and if any trends varied between groups of young people, resembling girls and boys or richer or poorer families. We also wanted to find out whether changes in friendship quality and the prevalence of bullying over time mirrored any increase in adolescent emotional problems, and whether these aspects could explain an element of this rise.
Good quality friendships are related to higher self-esteem and mental health, whereas bullying is linked with poorer mental health.
We used data from secondary school children which is collected every two years via the School Health Research Network. This is used to extend our understanding of risk aspects for health, and to assist schools and other organisations improve the lives of young people in Wales.
Students answered questions on emotional problems, including how often they felt low, irritable, nervous and had sleep difficulties. They also answered questions on friendship quality and bullying, each in person and online. In total, we checked out data from greater than 200,000 students aged between 11 and 16 from three surveys of Welsh secondary schools in 2013, 2017 and 2019.
Rise in emotional problems
We found a considerable increase in emotional problems amongst young people in Wales between 2013 and 2019. The proportion of young individuals with high numbers of emotional problems rose from 23% to 38%. Our findings are in keeping with increasing rates of emotional disorders, referrals to child and adolescent mental health services, and youth self-harm and suicide during this era.
Our study highlights that existing mental health inequalities were getting worse even before 2020. This is a very concerning trend because it predates COVID, which is thought to have exacerbated mental health problems. Girls and people from poorer families experienced steeper increases in emotional problems.
The reasons for this finding are complex. While our study doesn’t examine potential reasons, other research suggests that being richer allows families to access higher housing, adequate food, higher healthcare and fewer stressors more generally.
There are several possible reasons for worse mental health amongst girls, including sex hormones, lower self-esteem, more interpersonal stressors, gender-based violence and – on a societal level – an absence of gender equality and discrimination. But not enough research has been conducted on this field.
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The proportion of scholars experiencing bullying increased barely between 2013 and 2019, and friendship quality decreased barely. However, while we found a powerful association between the standard of adolescent social relationships and emotional problems, social relationships resembling friendship quality and bullying didn’t appear to elucidate these population-level increases in mental health problems.
Mental health support
Our findings highlight a growing need for mental health support for young people to handle the steep increase of their emotional problems over the past decade, particularly amongst poorer families. Currently, one in three Welsh children live below the poverty line. We must pay particular attention to supporting these young people, and others across the UKwho’re at greater risk of emotional problems.
While social relationship measures didn’t follow the identical steep trend as emotional symptoms, improving the standard of young people’s social relationships and reducing bullying are still necessary priorities. There is currently a move towards a whole school approach in Wales, which involves providing a supportive context for healthy relationships in schools more generally.
The growing needs of young individuals with mental health issues are adding to our already significantly strained child and adolescent mental health services. Much more investment must be made to support our young and most vulnerable people.
Policy-makers, schools and practitioners should pay particular attention to this steep rise in emotional problems, particularly amongst girls and young people from less-affluent families.