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Researchers at Simon Fraser University say there is an urgent need to “take back the village” after the pandemic to support teenagers and foster a sense of belonging in young people’s communities.
A new study led by Professor Hasina Samji from the Faculty of Health Sciences investigated the role of modifiable community and society-level factors in young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
The study builds on Samji’s 2022 Youth Development Survey, which surveyed more than 8,800 grade 11 students in B.C. schools. Data was collected from January to March 2022 during the fifth wave of the pandemic. This period saw the highest number of daily coronavirus infections.
Students were asked to rank their mental well-being and life satisfaction, noting the number of positive and negative experiences (up to age 18), the extent to which they experienced depression and anxiety symptoms.
According to Samji, having more positive experiences in childhood was associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety, and better life satisfaction and mental health. Conversely, those who had more adverse childhood experiences had more symptoms of depression and anxiety, and had lower life satisfaction and mental health.
Adults with four or more adverse childhood experiences are four times more likely to experience depression and decreased life satisfaction and experience anxiety than those with no adverse childhood experiences. 3 times more likely to attempt suicide and 30 times more likely to attempt suicide.
“We cannot prevent adversity in all young people,” says Samji. “We know that adversity leads to so many negative outcomes in a variety of areas, including infectious diseases, drug use, obesity, and heart disease. People exposed to four or more adversities in childhood , the risk of nearly all poor health outcomes is higher than having fewer or no adverse experiences.
Importantly, positive childhood experiences were associated with improved mental health and well-being, even among young people who had negative childhood experiences. Positive childhood experiences include having the support of friends, feeling supported by family members during difficult times, feeling a sense of belonging to a community, and feeling safe and protected by adults at home. can be mentioned.
Adverse childhood experiences include verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional and physical neglect, domestic violence, mental illness in a caregiver, incarceration, drug use, and divorce. Furthermore, adverse experiences are also observed at the societal level (food insecurity, homelessness). community level (feeling unsafe at school or in the community); and at the family level (separation or divorce of caregivers).
“As a health system, we often become very reactive,” Samji says. “Young people say we wait until they are in crisis and then give them the support they need. I really wanted to see if we could deliver it faster.”
Samji explains that mental illnesses are not randomly distributed within a population, but follow a socio-economic gradient. Therefore, this study recommends systemic changes to provide additional support to families by institutions (judiciary, health, schools) to increase positive childhood experiences and reduce negative ones. .
“We have to change the paradigm,” Samji says. “When people think of mental health, they only think of mental illness, but mental health is so much more than that.
“As with physical health, there is an aspect of illness, but we know we can do more to support our physical health. We can exercise, we can eat well, and we can do more to support our mental health. The same goes for mental illness. There is something that can be done about it. Of course, just like any physical illness, there is a genetic component.”
This study, and other research on social and structural determinants of mental well-being, emphasizes the importance of: Facilitate Delivering well-being by addressing the social determinants of mental health and supporting people with mental health problems.
Samji’s Youth Development Support Survey has expanded from six school districts in 2021 to 32 school districts in 2024, more than half of British Columbia’s school districts.
For more information:
Hasina Samji et al., Positive childhood experiences act as a protective factor for mental health in pandemic-era youth with adverse childhood experiences, child abuse and neglect (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106640
Magazine information:
child abuse and neglect