The 5thEdition of the European Mental Health awareness week took place between 13th and 19th of May 2024.
This week is a pan-European initiative and is run by the non governmental organization (NGO) Mental Health Europe, the largest independent European mental health NGO. This week is important for bringing awareness about the importance of mental health in the everyday lives.
As a part of the EuCARE schools study, we did an evaluation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of students from Italy, Portugal and Mexico. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire measured psychological symptoms of students across all grades in Italy, Portugal and Mexico from November 2022 to March 2024, while the Personal Self-Concept questionnaires measured the attitude towards preventive measures. Different dimensions of mental health were evaluated, including emotional problems, total difficulties and conduct problems, hyperactivity levels, peer relationship problems and prosocial behavior.
Emotional problems increased with older age. On the other hand, Prosocial behavior decreased with age.
Secondary schools’ students reported higher levels of total difficulties and conduct problems, compared to high school students that reported higher levels of emotional problems.
Emotional problems were higher in students with longer periods of distant learning. On the other hand, positive experiences with social distancing decreased them.
Conduct problems, on the other hand, were higher on those reporting negative experiences with social distancing and vaccination and those facing prolonged periods of distance learning.
The study also found differences between genres. Girls appear to have experienced more emotional difficulties than boys, while hyperactivity levels were more present in men rather than women.
The study results marked a milestone in understanding the impact of pandemic-related measures on students’ psychological symptoms across different grades and countries. More results will be available soon.