the briefing room

Interpersonal relationships at home, school and with peers appear to be critical for positive mental health among young Canadian teens, a major study suggests.

The survey-based examination of more than 26,000 students in Grades 6 to 10 is the latest in a series of studies since 1989-90 that takes the pulse of Canadian adolescents for comparison with their peers of the same age in more than 40 other countries.

“We focused it on mental health for a reason,” said John Freeman, director of the Social Program Evaluation Group at Queen’s University and a study co-author. “Mental health is a large issue for Canada’s young people right now. It’s in our conversations … it’s in the news.”
Freeman said that as obvious as it may seem, relationships with others are a key indicator as to whether a teen is mentally healthy.
The study, based on responses to questionnaires given to students during class time, examined how relationships with parents, teachers and peers reflect on mental health status.

“And we found consistently, no matter which group we looked at, even with neighbourhoods as well, that relationships mattered,” Freeman said Wednesday from Kingston, Ont. “Those students who reported stronger relationships also reported better indices of mental health.”

While adults often believe that teens’ most critical relationships are with people in their own age group, Freeman said the study found that connections with adults also are important… Read More