Young people’s perceptions of mental and physical health in the context of general wellbeing

Abstract

Objectives: Recognition of the need for health education in schools has seen advances in health literacy in recent years. Most of these have focused on physical health whereas education about mental health is generally lacking and focused on tackling stigma rather than promoting good mental health. This study evaluated a pilot intervention designed to improve young people's understanding of good mental health as a key aspect of wellbeing and explores their perceptions of health and wellbeing. Methods: Two hundred and eighteen 13-year-olds participated in an interactive workshop about healthy eating, physical activity and mental health. Young people's understanding and perceptions were assessed through anonymous questionnaires at the start and end of the workshop. Common themes were identified and differences pre-and post-workshop and between girls and boys were analysed. Results: Nearly all young people (100% before, 97% after) perceived being healthy to mean being physically healthy. A minority (8%) also considered mental health to be a component of general health, which increased to 12% after the workshop. Understandings of mental health broadened after the workshop. Interestingly many mentioned physical health when asked to describe mental health, both before and after the workshop. Girls' and boys' responses were similar except for more girls including social relationships in their descriptions of mental health. Conclusions: In this study, we have discovered more about how young people perceive health in general and mental health. Such information is useful for targeting future interventions. Students' understanding of mental health and its importance to wellbeing can be improved through short combined health interventions.

Potential of social media in promoting mental health in adolescents

“…This is essential, as with the increasing prevalence of mental disorders, economic projections suggest that there is likely to be a huge impact on the economy by 2026 (Knapp et al, 2011). Thus, assuring the provision of a good understanding of mental health and promoting a mentally healthy lifestyle is necessary (Singletary et al, 2015). Given the extensive usage, social media provides a possible cost-effective way to promote mental health (Betton et al, 2015).…”

Designing Online Interventions in Consideration of Young People’s Concepts of Well-Being: Exploratory Qualitative Study

“…The importance of language in studies of this nature should not be overlooked. In Singletary’s [29] study on young people’s perceptions of mental and physical health, the term well-being was not used when surveying participants. Singletary’s findings differ from this study in that only 8% of the young people interviewed perceived being healthy to mean being physically healthy.…”

“…It should also be recognized that the young people from the metropolitan workshop were older on average than those from the rural sites. This could possibly account for the few differences in well-being conceptualization, as the young people were at different stages in their lives (ie, high school and starting university) [29].…”

“…Similar research in the field reveals that, overall, younger people tend to place more emphasis on self-knowledge, competence, and self-acceptance, while older people focus more on positively coping with change [26-28]. A more recent study in the United Kingdom that investigated general well-being perceptions of 13-year-olds found that, overwhelmingly, the concept of well-being was linked to the idea of physical health, with very few participants indicating mental health as also being important [29].…”

Fit to Perform: An Investigation of Higher Education Music Students’ Perceptions, Attitudes, and Behaviors toward Health

“…In the general population ( Booker and Sacker, 2011 ; Davoren et al, 2013 ; Office for National Statistics, 2016 ), studies have shown that women tend to score lower on wellbeing than men, a pattern that has not yet been fully explained. One possible explanation is that women and men attribute different descriptors to wellbeing and, therefore, develop different perceptions of it ( Singletary et al, 2014 ). Recent studies in music have shown that, despite the highly demanding contexts that musicians face in educational and professional realms, they find high levels of meaning in their lives and experience feelings of accomplishment ( Kivimäki and Jokinen, 1994 ; Ascenso et al, 2017 ).…”