Study finds youth aren’t receiving enough mental health supports

Apr 2, 2020 | 9:16 AM

PRINCE GEORGE—A study released Wednesday looking at Adolescent Health in the Northern Interior found that found that local youth aren’t receiving the mental health supports that they need.

The study by the McCreary Centre Society was conducted in 2018, and was completed by over 38,000 of the province’s Grade 7-12 students, including all school districts in the Northern Interior Health area.

Results from the study found that males and females across the province rated their mental health less positively than five years earlier, this was only the case for females in the north.

“There were other gender differences in the results which likely go some way to explaining the more positive mental health of local males.”—Annie Smith, McCreary’s Executive Director

“For example, there was an increase in girls who reported they had been sexually abused this went up to more than one in five girls locally while rates remained stable for boys at 4 percent,” Smith added.

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The study showed that males were less likely than females to have been verbally or physically sexually harassed, and local females were also more likely than females across BC to have been sexually harassed.

“These disparities are obviously concerning, as were the findings that more youth are missing out on mental health services that they need.”—Annie Smith

Smith highlights that there were some positive results to the survey. More youth are waiting until they are at least 15 years of age before trying cannabis, and local youth local youth were more likely than those across the province to feel there was an adult in their community who cared about them. As well as as an increase in curiosity about mental health, with students asking for more information on the topic.

Photo Courtesy Kevin Simmons via Flickr, original image.

by Veronica Beltran

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Study finds youth aren’t receiving enough mental health supports

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