Mental Health Interests of Adolescents in Secondary Education

This study explores the relative interest in various mental-health topics among adolescents. The results of this study will be used to develop relevant information material for the age-group and for interested mental-health practitioners as well as teachers. The participating adolescents were between 13-19 (N = 2058) recruited through social media. In the sample 922 participants attended lower secondary school and 1136 participants attended upper secondary school.
Building on a previous study, seven multiple-response questions covered the areas cognitions, friends and leisure, family, school, diagnoses, vulnerability and addiction, and interventions.
The results show that the students are most interested in anxiety (72.0%), self-help (71,8%), depression (69,8%), stress/stress management (67.8%), loneliness (65.2%), and school related performance anxiety (65.1%).
Even though there are significant gender differences in interest on many issues, only interest in eating disorders (girls 57.8%) and sexual harassment (52.5%) had more than a 65%/35% split by gender.
We found that there was a larger interest in school related performance anxiety, peer-pressure, and love amongst lower secondary students than among those in upper secondary school. On the other hand, upper secondary students were more interested in burnout, procrastinating, and feeling blue.
Implications for student health and school psychology services will be discussed.