Among 15-year-old girls in Finland, 1 in 5 reported feeling low about their everyday life in 2022, according to the latest Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study results.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the health and well-being of children and adolescents worldwide. Several studies have reported adverse effects on their mental health, especially among those who received limited social support during the pandemic’s peak or whose support system was already poor before the pandemic’s onset.
In autumn 2021, concerns were raised about Finnish adolescents’ mental health and well-being, particularly the increase in loneliness and depressive feelings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Finland HBSC team investigated these trends using their survey data from 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Girls’ mental health more affected than boys’
The study found that girls’ mental health, particularly, had deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, a significant number of girls reported feeling low, with 17–19% of 13- and 15-year-old girls reporting feeling down every day – an increase of 7–9 percentage points compared to 2018. However, for 15-year-olds, the pandemic only exacerbated the negative trend already present before 2018.
“I am worried about 15-year-old girls, who seem to be facing a multitude of mental health challenges such as loneliness, morning fatigue and feeling low, among others. More than 1 in 4 reported experiencing loneliness always or often,” says Nelli Lyyra, Senior Lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä.
Nelli adds, “Though loneliness did not increase significantly during the pandemic, it was more closely linked to other mental health problems in 2022 than earlier. Lonely adolescents seem more vulnerable to the negative mental health impacts of the pandemic.”
The mental health of boys, on the other hand, seems to have improved over the years. While 1–8% of 11-, 13- and 15-year-old boys reported feeling low about every day, and 3–10% reported feeling lonely always or often, boys aged 11 and 15 felt less lonely in 2022 than in 2018. The study also finds that 13- and 15-year-old boys were more confident about their future than girls (58% versus 44%).
“We assumed there would be a decline in how hopeful adolescents are about their future, but surprisingly, the proportion of 15-year-old boys who often saw their future as hopeful was 10% higher in 2022 than in 2018,” shares Kristiina Ojala, Researcher at the University of Jyväskylä. Boys also felt their health was excellent or good more often than girls.
Leena Paakkari, Associate Professor at the University of Jyväskylä, explains, “Our results revealed gender inequalities in well-being. There is a need to strengthen gender-sensitive recommendations, policies and practices in crisis response and recovery efforts. We need an increased understanding of the health resources that can potentially decrease the disparities among gender groups. Understanding the mechanisms that explain positive health trends among boys would be equally important.”
Young people with limited support are vulnerable
In 2022, those young people who received support from their families, friends and/or teachers reported better self-rated health and lower rates of frequent loneliness and feeling low.
As we build more resilient societies, the role of social support in various settings, such as schools, in helping manage the negative impacts of health crises should be considered.
“Schools have an important role as health-promoting settings not only during the pandemic but also now when societies try to recover different losses in adolescents’ well-being, such as health and learning,” says Leena.