‘Unprecedented decline’ in mental health of young Dutch teenagers

A new report into the wellbeing of Dutch teenagers aged 11-16 shows an “unprecedented” decline in their mental health during the coronavirus pandemic — with girls more seriously affected than boys and in danger of developing longer-term “mental frailty”.

The joint report by Utrecht University, the state’s socio-cultural think-tank, SCP, and the Trimbos Institute which advises on addiction, says a significant increase in emotional problems has been matched by an increase in behavioural issues, as well as in hyperactivity and attention deficit.

The findings come just days after a separate report by healthcare agency, Nivel, revealed that more young people aged 15-24 were prescribed anti-depressants during the pandemic than before, a trend that has since “stabilised” among young men, but that’s continuing among young women.

The statistics from the Utrecht University-SCP-Trimbos report are particularly striking in relation to girls and “a worrying trend reversal”, according to lead researcher, Dr Gonneke Stevens.

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At primary school level, for instance, 33 per cent of girls in their final year said they’d experienced emotional problems, compared with 14 per cent four years ago.

At the same time, the percentage of primary school girls who said they were often bullied online rose from one per cent to six per cent, and the percentage who experienced problems as a result of using social media increased from two to five per cent.

At secondary school level, 43 per cent of girls said they had “difficulty coping” compared with 28 per cent in 2017.

Overall, 45 per cent of second-level pupils, male and female alike, said they felt “a lot of pressure” from schoolwork — almost three times the 16 per cent recorded in 2001, when the research began.

The report found that a well-established decline in smoking and drinking among Dutch teenagers in general has stalled. Sixty per cent of 16-year-olds said they’d had alcohol in the previous month, many bingeing on at least five glasses a night. Even for 15-year-olds the figure was 42 per cent.

In terms of the difference between the sexes, it said that while previous surveys had shown that boys smoked and drank more often the girls, in 2021 those differences disappeared — a development described by the researchers as “striking”.

“Uncertainty about the future and fear of not meeting patents’ or teachers’ expectations are undoubtedly important issues in these findings”, says Dr Stevens.

“The main cause, however, has been the pandemic. Pupils have been falling behind in their education and that’s been the catalyst for this insecurity.

“Girls scored higher for all the wrong reasons: they worried more and felt anxious and unhappy more. We’re also seeing more girls with stress-induced psychosomatic complaints, such as headaches or abdominal pain.

“Unfortunately, because the pandemic is over doesn’t mean its effects automatically disappear.”