More is being done to support athletes’ mental health as they retire but early intervention is crucial, which means more education is needed with young athletes.
An artwork made by a young person receiving mental health care in hospital during an art therapy session.
Author provided
Mental health support teams are helping schools, but not all young people
benefit.
Some fault teachers for an inability to restrict phone use at school. But both students and some parents resist this, and problems far exceed in-class distraction. A student puts her phone in a holder at Delta High School in Delta, Utah, in February 2024.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Sachin Maharaj, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Four Canadian school boards are suing social media giants. This comes as 95 per cent of Ontario schools report needing more resources to support student mental health.
Social media apps can cause children to become increasingly distracted.
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Four Ontario school boards have filed a lawsuit against social media platforms to force them to change practices that harm schoolchildren.
Eating disorders are on the rise in youth, with research showing that health-care visits for eating disorders have doubled since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Parents and other supportive adults can learn to recognize young people’s symptoms of disordered eating, which is a spectrum of unhealthy eating patterns and behaviour.
I believe that young people today face unprecedented pressures to excel academically, professionally and socially.
A recent study found that 41 per cent of Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes met the criteria for one or more mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety or eating disorders.
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Given the unique demands and pressures of competing in elite sport environments, it is imperative that we pay attention to elite youth athletes’ mental health needs.
Researchers investigated how the availability of neighbourhood amenities may have contributed to changes in youth mental health and stress levels during the first six months of the pandemic.
(Unsplash/Paul Hanaoka)
Neighbourhood features may have helped youth cope with the mental health impact of pandemic restrictions. Parks didn’t play much of a role but food amenities and the suburbs did.
Gratitude, kindness and optimistic thinking can help kids feel a bit better.
Wipada Wipawin/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Positive psychology focuses on science-based ideas about how to increase your happiness and live a satisfying life. Studies are following how school-based interventions affect students.
We uncovered some significant and often devastating insights into how young Australians – particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds – have experienced the ‘push’ towards university.
Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks players and spectators stand for a moment of silence for Adam Johnson, before an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, on Oct. 31, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Hockey culture’s tendency to prefer attributes like mental toughness over emotional vulnerability can damage athletes when they’re confronted with traumatic events. This needs to change.
Anxiety, depression and suicide among U.S. teens continue to increase.
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Steven Berkowitz, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Millions of young people in the US are suffering, whether from abuse at home, pressure from social media or exposure to violence. But navigating the mental health care system can be disheartening.
With child and adolescent mental health problems on the rise, here is a step-by-step guide for caregivers for recognizing signs of mental distress and responding with support and resources.
The hours spent – and the content viewed – by teens on social media can lead to depression, anxiety and body image issues.
Mixmike/E+via Getty Images
Research shows that social media, with it endless promotion of unrealistic standards of beauty, has had a negative impact on millions of young people.
If we want to see improvements in the lives of girls in Canada and beyond, we need to first think critically about why we tend to dismiss and invalidate their concerns.
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In Canada, over 50 per cent of female students in Ontario have reported moderate to severe psychological distress. One in four girls has been sexually abused by the time they turn 18.
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary
Assistant professor, School of Psychology, Scientist, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Professor of Adolescent Health The University of Melbourne; Director, Royal Children's Hospital Centre for Adolescent Health, The University of Melbourne