Youth mental health worse, especially among girls, pandemic-spanning survey shows

According to a survey conducted in both 2019 and 2023, mental health for adolescents has gotten worse as they’ve grown into young adults — especially among girls.

Statistics Canada released new results from the 2023 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youththis week, which followed up on the same survey conducted in 2019, before the pandemic. The survey asked youth to gauge their own mental health using one of five options: “excellent,” “very good,” “good,” “fair” or “poor.”

In the original survey, 12 per cent of the group aged 12 to 17 rated their mental health in the two lowest categories. By 2023, when the group was 16 to 21 years of age, that percentage grew to 26 per cent.

In 2019, among girls aged 12 to 17, only 16 per cent rated their mental health “fair” or “poor.” Among the same group of individuals, when surveyed again four years later, that number was up to 33 per cent.

Over the same time span, the proportion of boys self-rating their mental as “fair” or “poor” went from seven per cent to 19 per cent.

Alisa Simon, executive vice-president, e-mental health transformation and chief youth officer with Kids Help Phone, said those statistics don’t surprise her.

Kids Help Phone connects young people with telephone, text message and online mental health support in Canada. Simon said last year, the service had the highest number of connections in the organization’s history.

“We are seeing young people reach out for support for their mental health in unprecedented numbers,” she said.

Simon said over the past several years, topics like suicide, self-harm and isolation are increasingly common. Since 2019, Kids Help Phone has seen conversations about self-harm surge by 82 per cent.

“I think what we’re seeing is the ongoing impact of the pandemic,” Simon said. “Potentially loss of connections and social skills as a result of the pandemic. Certainly an increase in time spent online by young people and social media, which both can provide connection but also is a way of being incredibly disconnected at the same time.”

What parents are seeing

As a part of the Statistics Canada survey in 2019, parents were asked to assess the mental well-being of their children.

The report highlighted a difference in how parents perceived their child’s mental health and how the children themselves said they felt.

Only eight per cent of youths aged 15 to 17 were said to have “poor” or “fair” mental health by their parents — less than half the actual amount (17 per cent) of youths who rated themselves “poor” or “fair.”

“As a parent, I always hope — as do other parents — that our kids will come to us,” Simon said. “The reality is that as young people age developmentally, they’re facing different challenges. They aren’t necessarily going to come to us to talk about what’s happening with them.”

Simon said parents should have open conversations with their children and let them know there is a safe space to turn to. Parents should also keep an eye on changes in behaviour, taking note if their child seems to be acting differently, or if they notice a difference in sleeping or eating patterns.

“But at the end of the day, we can’t force our kids to talk to us,” she said. “So we also need to be really open about the fact that them talking to somebody is critical, having a safe adult that they can go to.”

Simon said while the increase in youth reaching out for help is a troubling trend, it’s also a positive sign that children feel empowered to reach out.

“I always see young people reaching out to us as both an alarm bell about what’s happening in young people’s lives, but also as moments of hope,” she said.

Simon said mental health is an issue that affects entire families, citing an advisory by the U.S. Surgeon General that parental stress and mental well-being were at alarming levels.

According to that report, “41% of parents say that most days they are so stressed they cannot function and 48% say that most days their stress is completely overwhelming.”

Simon said it’s important for mental health to be a topic that’s out in the open for parents and caregivers.

“We need to keep talking about what’s happening with our kids in Canada and across the world,” she said. “We need to understand that they are facing challenges at unprecedented levels.”

Kids Help Phone provides mental health and crisis support for young people through online chat, text messaging and over the phone at 1-800-668-6868. Visit the Kids Help Phone website for more information.