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Mental Health
of Youth in Ontario: A Good News/Bad News Scenario
For immediate release: Monday May 7, 2001 (Toronto, Ontario):
One
third of school students report impaired mental health according to a
study released for the first time today by the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health (CAMH). The Mental Health
and Well-Being of Ontario Students Report, released during Mental
Health Week, presents data from 1999, as well as trends from the past
decade.
"Our
findings present a good news, bad news scenario," said Dr. Ed Adlaf,
research scientist and head of CAMH's Population
and Life Course Studies unit, who co-authored the study with research
analyst Angela Paglia.
"The
majority of students, over two-thirds, are doing fine with respect to
their mental health. However, we must also take a serious look at the
one-third of students, who report impaired mental health," said Adlaf,
who is also an assistant professor with the Department of Public Health
Science at the University of Toronto. He cautioned that while the study
is based on subjective survey results, rather than clinical data, such
studies help to identify which groups of the population are at higher
risk, and are useful in helping to design prevention, education and treatment
programs.
The
report describes health and mental health indicators in 1999 and changes
since 1991, and is a companion document to Drug
Use Among Ontario Students: Findings from the Ontario Student Use Survey
(OSDUS). It is the first time the mental health indicators
have been released as a separate document in keeping with CAMH's addiction
and mental health treatment and research mandate.
The
mental health and well-being survey results were collected as part of
CAMH's ongoing OSDUS and will continue to be reported every two
years. OSDUS spans over two decades, based on 12 surveys conducted
every two years since 1977. In the spring of 1999, 4,894 students in grades
seven through OAC (77% of selected students) from 38 school boards, 111
schools and 285 classes participated in the survey administered by the
Institute for Social Research, York University.
The
study's overall results show that female students are more likely than
males to have low self-esteem, be at high risk for depression, have elevated
psychological distress, report visiting a mental health professional and
be at risk for an eating disorder. Male students are more likely than
females to engage in violent activities, engage in delinquent behaviour
in general and have a gambling problem.
Highlights of the study include:
- One in three students (30%) report elevated psychological distress,
and this indicator was higher among females than males (36% vs. 25%).
- One in ten students report low self-esteem.
- 13% of students reported a visit to a health professional for mental
health reasons during the past year. Females are more likely than males
to report mental health visits (16% vs. 9%).
- Five percent of students are at high risk for depression and 41% are
at moderate risk for depression. Females are more likely than males
to report both levels of depression (high: 8% vs. 2%; moderate: 50%
vs. 31%).
- Five percent (about 46,000 Ontario students) report both elevated
distress and hazardous drinking.
- Although the majority of students feel safe in school, one in seven
(14%) are worried about being harmed or threatened at school. Concern
about school safety is higher among students who are female, younger,
and from Toronto.
- One-in-five students (19%) report assaulting someone during the past
12 months; 13% report carrying a weapon (e.g., knife or gun), and 8%
report gang fighting during the 12 months before the survey. However,
short-term trends show a slight decline in weapon carrying between 1993
and 1999 among all students, from 15% to 12%.
- About one-in-eight students (13%) report a gambling problem, while
6% report indicators of pathological gambling.
Changes over the past decade include:
- More students reported fair or poor health in 1999 than in 1991 (9%
vs. 6%).
- More students in 1999 report selling cannabis compared to those in
1991 (8% to 3%).
- More 11th graders in 1999 reported acts of property damage,
car theft, cannabis and other drug selling and break and entering compared
to 11th-graders in 1983.
CAMH
provides treatment services and has implemented a number of clinical,
educational, research and program development initiatives for adolescents
with addiction and/or mental health issues. A list of initiatives including
a school based program aimed at preventing behavioural, social and other
problems associated with drug use and a province-wide youth led project
aimed at preventing depression among young women is available on our web-site
at www.camh.netguide/youth_initiatives.html
A PDF version of the executive summary
of the report is available here. An electronic bulletin of the highlights
and a full report is also available at www.camh.net/research/population_life_course.html.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, a World Health Organization
Centre of Excellence and a teaching hospital
fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, was established in 1998
through the merger of the Addiction Research Foundation, the Clarke Institute
of Psychiatry, the Donwood Institute and the Queen Street Mental Health
Centre.
- For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
- Anne Ptasznik
Media Relations Coordinator
(416) 595-6015
Anne_Ptasznik@camh.net
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1-800-463-6273
