More attention should be paid to girls, lonely adolescents, and linguistic minority groups

Most young people today report feeling well, despite the widespread discussion about the mental health of youth.

A recent study conducted by Folkhälsan Research Center in cooperation with University of Jyväskylä and University of Helsinki compares how Finnish adolescents felt before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

– Mental health problems in terms of recurring psychological complaints, such as sadness and irritability, and somatic symptoms, such as headaches and back pain, increased, and life satisfaction slightly decreased between 2018 and 2022, says Jasmine Gustafsson.

Gustafsson is a visiting researcher at Folkhälsan Research Center and a doctoral researcher in social psychology at the University of Helsinki. The data analyzed in this study were drawn from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, which is conducted in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä. The study is part of the research project entitled "Health promoting and empowerment enabling environments” at Folkhälsan, led by PhD Nina Simonsen.

Jasmine Gustafsson acknowledges that a certain degree of sadness is a natural part of life.

– Most people experience feelings of sadness or irritability from time to time. However, when these symptoms are frequent and persistent over an extended period, they can lead to more severe problems.

Loneliness is a well-known risk factor for poor health.

– Feelings of loneliness had decreased slightly but were more strongly associated with other health problems at the later timepoint. Symptoms of social media addiction were at the same level as four years ago.

Researcher Jasmine Gustafsson was surprised by the result that Swedish-speaking adolescents reported poorer mental health than the Finnish-speaking ones. In previous studies, the rates have been roughly the same.

Home environment and school climate have an impact

Characteristics of young people who report better mental health include experiencing higher social support from teachers, a positive school climate, and a positive home atmosphere.

– It's important for teachers to interact in a way that makes the student feel encouraged and accepted.

Gustafsson points out that the current study has not investigated causality.

– We don't know, for example, whether higher teacher support leads to better mental health or whether better mental health leads to a more positive assessment of the relationship with teachers.

Adolescents who report better mental health also have stronger subjective health literacy, that is, perceived ability and skills needed to understand health-promoting factors, find health-related information, and follow the advice of doctors and nurses.

Girls and Swedish-speaking Finns are at risk

Groups at greater risk of mental health problems are girls, lonely adolescents and those who perceive their overall health as poor.

– According to previous research, girls tend to experience more school-related stress and appearance-related pressure through platforms such as social media. It is also possible that boys' mental health is manifested in other ways, such as drug use or antisocial behavior, which we did not consider in our study, says Gustafsson.

One surprising result for the researchers was that Swedish-speaking adolescents had poorer mental health compared to the Finnish-speaking youth. In earlier studies, the rates have been roughly similar.

– Minority groups tend to report poorer health than the majority group, and until now, Finnish Swedes have been an exception. However, in our study, the Swedish-speaking youth were no more likely to belong to the very weakest health profiles compared to the Finnish-speaking youth.

In previous studies, differences in the health of Finnish- and Swedish-speaking adults have been partially explained by the greater social capital of Finnish Swedes, including broader social networks. Could the weakened health of the Swedish-speaking youth possibly be linked to changes in their social relationships?

– The reasons for the deteriorating health of the Swedish-speaking adolescents need to be investigated further. It would also be beneficial to explore whether Finnish Swedes, as a minority group, perceive discrimination, as this could potentially have adverse effects on their overall health, says Gustafsson.

You can find the full text here. 

Text: Heidi Furu
Photo: Mikko Käkelä, Heidi Furu