A growing need for youth mental health services in Canada: examining trends in youth mental health from 2011 to 2018

Abstract

Aims The mental health of youth is continually changing and requires reliable monitoring to ensure that adequate social and economic resources are allocated. This study assessed trends in mental health among Canadian youth, 12–24 years old. Specifically, we examined the prevalence of poor/fair perceived mental health, diagnosis of mood and anxiety disorders, suicidality, perceived stress and sleep problems, substance use, and mental health consultations. Methods Data were collected from eight cycles of the annual Canadian Community Health Survey (2011–2018). Prevalence of mental health outcomes was calculated from each survey, and meta-regression was used to assess trends over time. In the absence of a significant trend over time, the eight cycles were pooled together using meta-analysis techniques to gain precision. Trends in prevalence were assessed for the overall sample of youth (12–24 years) and separately for male and female adolescents (12–18 years) and young adults (19–24 years). Results The prevalence of poor/fair perceived mental health, diagnosed mood and anxiety disorders, and past-year mental health consultations increased from 2011 to 2018, most strongly among young adult females. Past-year suicidality increased among young adult females but did not change for other age and sex groups. Notably, the prevalence of binge drinking decreased by 2.4% per year for young adult males, 1.0% for young adult females and 0.7% per year for adolescent males, while staying relatively stable for adolescent females. Prevalence of cannabis use declined among adolescents before legalisation (2011–2017); however, this trend did not persist in 2018. Instead, the 2018 prevalence was 5.6% higher than the 2017 prevalence (16.3 v. 10.7%). The combined prevalence of other illicit drug use was stable at 4.6%; however, cocaine use and hallucinogens increased by approximately 0.2% per year. Conclusions Our findings highlight a growing need for youth mental health services, as indicated by a rise in the prevalence of diagnosed mood and anxiety disorders and past-year mental health consultations. The reason for these observed increases is less apparent – it may represent a true rise in the prevalence of mental illness, or be an artefact of change in diagnostic practices, mental health literacy or diminishing stigma. Nonetheless, the findings indicate a need for the health care system to respond to the rising demand for mental health services among youth.

Social media use, economic recession and income inequality in relation to trends in youth suicide in high-income countries: a time trends analysis

“…Studies in Australia, Canada, the UK and USA indicate that the rises in suicide in young people have occurred in parallel with other signals of deteriorating youth mental health, including rises in self-reported depression symptoms, suicide attempts and hospital admissions for self-harm ( McManus et al., 2016 ; Mitchell et al., 2018 ; Twenge et al., 2019 ; Wiens et al., 2020 ).…”

Understanding Youth’s Lived Experience of Anxiety through Metaphors: A Qualitative, Arts-Based Study

“…A 2015 meta-analysis revealed a significant global prevalence of anxiety (6.5%) and depressive disorders (2.6%) among children and adolescents [ 4 ]. In Canada, the diagnostic rate of anxiety disorders in youth (ages 12–24 years old) doubled in 2018 compared to 2011 (12.9 vs. 6.0%, respectively) [ 5 ]. Anxiety is manifested in many forms, with comorbidity between anxiety disorders [ 6 , 7 ] and/or depression very common [ 8 ].…”

Efeito da Terapia Comunitária Integrativa sobre os sintomas de ansiedade em adolescentes no contexto escolar

“…Em uma avaliação realizada com 678 adolescentes da Índia, por meio da triagem com o SCARED, a percentual de transtornos de ansiedade foi de 16,6% (Madasu et al, 2019 Pesquisa realizada no Canadá buscou compreender as tendências na prevalência de doenças mentais em jovens de 12 a 24 anos entre os anos de 2011 a 2018 encontrou um aumento na prevalência de saúde mental ruim/razoável percebida e de diagnósticos de transtornos de humor e ansiedade nessa faixa etária ao decorrer dos anos (Wiens et al, 2020).…”

“…Esses dados corroboram com a literatura, nos quais estudos comprovam que a ansiedade aumenta na adolescência e principalmente entre mulheres (Gomez & Vance, 2016;Grolli et al, 2017;Patias et al, 2016). No Canadá foi observado um aumento na prevalência anual de distúrbios de humor e de ansiedade entre os jovens e essas tendências foram mais evidentes para mulheres (Wiens et al, 2020). O sexo feminino está associado a transtorno de ansiedade e as meninas apresentam maiores chances para desenvolvê-lo em comparação aos meninos (Madasu et al, 2019;Orellana et al, 2020).…”