An Assessment of Austrian School Students’ Mental Health and Their Wish for Support: A Mixed Methods Approach

Abstract

The mental health of school students has been severely impacted by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study used a mixed methods approach to assess students’ mental health and examine their wishes for support to improve their psychological well-being. We further investigated gender and age group differences in the amount of clinically relevant mental health problems and the roles that mental health and gender had on desired support. Between April and May 2022, a total of 616 Austrian students aged between 14 and 20 participated in a cross-sectional online survey (77.4% female; 19.8% male; 2.8% non-binary) assessing wishes for support regarding mental well-being and mental health indicators (depression: PHQ-9; anxiety: GAD-7; insomnia: ISI; stress: PSS-10; eating disorders: SCOFF; alcohol abuse: CAGE). A wish for support was expressed by 46.6% of the students. Qualitative content analysis revealed that the two most important categories of desired support types were “professional help” and “someone to talk to”. The group of students with a wish for support in general significantly more often showed clinically relevant depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders, or high stress symptoms. Students that wished for professional help significantly more often exceeded the cut-off for clinically relevant depression, anxiety, and high stress. Those who wished for someone to talk to significantly more often exceeded the cut-off for clinically relevant eating disorders. The results indicate a great need for support for young people’s mental health problems and that this need is even more urgent for students.

Comprehensive examination of support needs and mental well-being: a mixed-method study of the Austrian general population in times of crisis

“…Participants expressed a desire to communicate or share their concerns with someone and wished for companionship in times of distress. These findings align with similar results obtained by Haider et al ( 49 ) where Austrian students expressed a desire to talk to someone without specialized expertise, including friends and family. Social contacts and support play a pivotal role during times of stress, serving as essential resources contributing to resilience ( 73 ).…”

“…However, it is conceivable that available services remain underutilized due to a lack of awareness or mismatch with the needs of this subgroup. Notably, a study among Austrian school students revealed that their primary support wish was professional help ( 49 ). In Austria the costs for psychotherapy are often only partly covered by health insurances.…”

“…A previous study on wish for support to improve mental health in Austrian school students found that students wishing for professional support showed more often clinically relevant depression, anxiety, and high stress ( 49 ). An increased awareness and interest in mental health during the pandemic was reported, showing the wish for a global mental health transformation ( 50 ).…”

Young People and the Future: School Students’ Concerns and Hopes for the Future after One Year of COVID-19 in Austria—Findings of a Mixed-Methods Pilot Study

“…Similar findings were observed in the recent study by Hawke et al [ 71 ] on health issues and health-related concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, numerous studies have already demonstrated higher levels of psychological distress among female adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 39 , 73 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 ]. One of the possible reasons for this may be that males are less likely to vocalize their problems to adhere to the traditional male gender role of projecting strength [ 91 ].…”

“…The study by Kaltschik et al [ 87 ] demonstrates that even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a need for support among adolescent students, as they showed poorer mental well-being in spring 2022 compared to February 2021. Despite an increase in the demand for help among young people with mental distress [ 90 ], young Austrians have shown a reluctance to access professional support services [ 37 ]. Therefore, support services for young people should be designed to be easily accessible, with schools being a suitable setting for such support.…”