Elevkårsengagerade ungdomars syn på skola, vänner, fritid och familj. Första delrapport, Projektet UNG
Schad, Elinor LU
and Levin, Karin
(2018)
- Abstract
- Stress, Unmanageability, FOMO, and Lack of Recovery: A New Perspective on Adolescent Mental Health
Today, many of the challenges that adolescents face involve mental health issues, some of which have the potential of negatively affecting them for a long time to come. There is, however, at present a lack of a detailed account on the mental health issues experienced by adolescents in Sweden. This study therefore explores senior High School students’ views on their life situation from four perspectives: friends, family, free time and school.
In this qualitative study, 270 senior High School students took part in a workshop arranged by the Swedish Students' Union in June 2018. Initially the participants were asked to provide answers to... (More) - Stress, Unmanageability, FOMO, and Lack of Recovery: A New Perspective on Adolescent Mental Health
Today, many of the challenges that adolescents face involve mental health issues, some of which have the potential of negatively affecting them for a long time to come. There is, however, at present a lack of a detailed account on the mental health issues experienced by adolescents in Sweden. This study therefore explores senior High School students’ views on their life situation from four perspectives: friends, family, free time and school.
In this qualitative study, 270 senior High School students took part in a workshop arranged by the Swedish Students' Union in June 2018. Initially the participants were asked to provide answers to six open-ended questions via their mobile phone (e.g. what in your life do you feel is meaningful?). This was followed by a session were the students received 30 minutes to write down what they perceived as most positive and negative aspects of the four areas: friends, family, free time and school. The session ended with the participants being asked three additional open-ended questions on their mobile phone. Framework analysis was used to analyze the data material.
The participants perceived friendship as well as being around other pupils as positive aspects of school. Doing well, being stimulated and having a good relationship with teachers were also considered as positive. On the other hand, performance anxiety along with stress and how teaching and learning is organized was perceived by the participants as particularly negative. Furthermore, the participants report that they experience a high level of school stress, but also stress of a more general nature, related to life in general.
The participants report on their free time as being important for recreation and recovery from school activities. Recovery appears to be hindered by time demands and or a lack of mental health such as anxiety problems.
As the results pertain to friends, we found that students value a sense of acceptance, and see peer pressure as a negative. Furthermore, fear of missing out (FOMO) on friends’ activities was a common worry among students.
Conclusion
The present study is unique in the sense that it presents students’ own views on their life situation. Of particular concern is the high degree of performance anxiety and stress as experienced by the participants as well as their experiences of FOMO, and lack of recovery. In addition, the participants perceive school and schoolwork as being unmanageable.
In line with the stress-vulnerability model, these results can be interpreted as heightening the risk of mental health issues. Moreover, students concerned primarily with school related stress, and a lack of recovery, may find it difficult to focus on academics, mastery, or personal fulfillment.
The results are important for the day-to-day practice of student health services, who encounter adolescents and young adults in the course of their profession. Furthermore, the results can inform the organization of schools to focus on issues of high relevance for adolescents.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/50cb5ac9-688e-4ebc-9ff0-10e02e727c8e
- author
- Schad, Elinor
LU
and Levin, Karin
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-10-21
- type
- Book/Report
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Mental Health, adolescents
- pages
- 51 pages
- publisher
- Sveriges psykologförbund
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 50cb5ac9-688e-4ebc-9ff0-10e02e727c8e
- date added to LUP
- 2018-10-21 10:09:35
- date last changed
- 2019-03-08 02:49:20
@techreport{50cb5ac9-688e-4ebc-9ff0-10e02e727c8e,
abstract = {{Stress, Unmanageability, FOMO, and Lack of Recovery: A New Perspective on Adolescent Mental Health<br/>Today, many of the challenges that adolescents face involve mental health issues, some of which have the potential of negatively affecting them for a long time to come. There is, however, at present a lack of a detailed account on the mental health issues experienced by adolescents in Sweden. This study therefore explores senior High School students’ views on their life situation from four perspectives: friends, family, free time and school.<br/>In this qualitative study, 270 senior High School students took part in a workshop arranged by the Swedish Students' Union in June 2018. Initially the participants were asked to provide answers to six open-ended questions via their mobile phone (e.g. what in your life do you feel is meaningful?). This was followed by a session were the students received 30 minutes to write down what they perceived as most positive and negative aspects of the four areas: friends, family, free time and school. The session ended with the participants being asked three additional open-ended questions on their mobile phone. Framework analysis was used to analyze the data material.<br/>The participants perceived friendship as well as being around other pupils as positive aspects of school. Doing well, being stimulated and having a good relationship with teachers were also considered as positive. On the other hand, performance anxiety along with stress and how teaching and learning is organized was perceived by the participants as particularly negative. Furthermore, the participants report that they experience a high level of school stress, but also stress of a more general nature, related to life in general. <br/>The participants report on their free time as being important for recreation and recovery from school activities. Recovery appears to be hindered by time demands and or a lack of mental health such as anxiety problems. <br/>As the results pertain to friends, we found that students value a sense of acceptance, and see peer pressure as a negative. Furthermore, fear of missing out (FOMO) on friends’ activities was a common worry among students.<br/>Conclusion<br/>The present study is unique in the sense that it presents students’ own views on their life situation. Of particular concern is the high degree of performance anxiety and stress as experienced by the participants as well as their experiences of FOMO, and lack of recovery. In addition, the participants perceive school and schoolwork as being unmanageable.<br/>In line with the stress-vulnerability model, these results can be interpreted as heightening the risk of mental health issues. Moreover, students concerned primarily with school related stress, and a lack of recovery, may find it difficult to focus on academics, mastery, or personal fulfillment.<br/>The results are important for the day-to-day practice of student health services, who encounter adolescents and young adults in the course of their profession. Furthermore, the results can inform the organization of schools to focus on issues of high relevance for adolescents. <br/>}},
author = {{Schad, Elinor and Levin, Karin}},
institution = {{Sveriges psykologförbund}},
keywords = {{Mental Health; adolescents}},
language = {{swe}},
month = {{10}},
title = {{Elevkårsengagerade ungdomars syn på skola, vänner, fritid och familj. Första delrapport, Projektet UNG}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/53800168/Rapport_Schad_Levin_2018.pdf}},
year = {{2018}},
}