Background to the Research

• Concerns about the mental health of young people have been raised in a number of arenas.
• Whilst suicide rates have been increasing over the past 30 years, the sharpest increases have occurred between groups aged 16-24 and 25-32 years during the period 1983-2001. Despite these trends, this issue has been largely ignored by researchers in NI.
• Each year, the YLT survey offers all young people who celebrate their 16th birthday in the February of that year the opportunity to discuss key social issues.
• In 2004, the YLT included questions about mental health.
  

Research Approach

• In 2004, 1,983 young people were invited to participate in the YLT survey. In total, 824 young people participated in the research, which provided a response rate of 42%.
• Fifty eight percent of respondents were female and 42% were male.
• Ninety seven percent were white and had lived in NI for at least 10 years.
• Whilst 17% did not perceive themselves to belong to either of the main religious traditions, 39% saw themselves "as part of the Protestant Community" and 44% saw themselves "as part of the Catholic Community".
• Psychological distress was measured using the GHQ12. This 12-item instrument has been widely used with adult populations in NI. It is used to screen for non-psychotic psychiatric symptoms and asks participants to identify their experience of a range of problems in the weeks preceding the interview.
• Responses are summed on a scale from 0 to 12. A score of 4 or more could indicate a problem requiring clinical attention.
• This Research Update focuses upon the participants who scored higher than 4 and were deemed to be experiencing psychological distress.
  

Main Findings

• 24% of the respondents reported experiencing high levels of psychological distress.
• A significant gender gap emerged with 30% of females reporting psychological distress compared to 16% of males.
• Young males indicated that they were better able to cope with stress, with 47% stating that they 'rarely' or 'never' get stressed, compared to 25% of females.
• There were no significant religious differences amongst Catholics (25%) and Protestants (22%) within the psychologically distressed sample.
• The most frequently cited stressor for both males and females (69%) was school work/exams.
• When asked about the pressures placed upon them by their school work, 75% of respondents felt pressurised at least 'sometimes', whilst 21% felt this way 'often' and 5% felt like this 'always'
• The highest levels of school pressure, as indicated by reporting 'always' or 'often' stressed, were reported by young female students attending grammar schools, compared to those attending secondary schools.
• Despite the attention given to the problem of bullying in the media, only 13% of the respondents reported that they were bullied 'sometimes'.
• Amongst male respondents, those who reported they had been bullied at school were more likely to be psychologically distressed.

Conclusions

• Due to the lack of comparative research, the authors conclude that it difficult to comment on the levels of psychological distress uncovered by this research.
• Some of the trends which emerged are consistent with research conducted on the adult population.
• It would appear that the final years of their educational experience may be very stressful for some young people.
• The detrimental impact upon their health may be attributed due to the interaction of both their social environment and personality.