Bitesize Research: Impact Of Pandemic On Mental Health

By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone’s had a great week so far! This week, I came across some recent research findings done by the UCL Institute of Education into adolescent mental health and in particular how the pandemic influenced mental health in students at KS3. Objectives: To understand the impact of the pandemic on adolescent mental health Summary:

• The research found that increased depressive symptoms and decreased life satisfaction took place for many young people during the pandemic, particularly for girls.
• It found that the increase will have led to approximately 60,000 more secondary-aged students reaching the threshold for clinical support for mental health.
• The researchers estimate that there would be 6% fewer adolescents with depressive mental health
• They conclude that this continues the urgent need to prioritise the already strained systems in place to support adolescent mental health and wellbeing

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How do I support my tutees’ and students’ mental health?
• What services or interventions of support am I aware of to guide students to?
• What further training would be helpful to ensure I can support my students as best as possible?

If you would like to discuss this further with me please get in touch! I’d be delighted to hear from you!