Mental health at risk: Kids struggle with new fears!

Mental health at risk: Kids struggle with new fears!

The mental health of children and young people in Germany remains alarmingly tense, as current studies make clear. A survey by the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) shows that psychological stress among adolescents has not returned anywhere near the level before 2019 since the end of the corona pandemic. Around 400,000 young people will continue to suffer more in the fall of 2024 than before the pandemic, with new fears - especially about war, terror and climate change - increasing, according to a study that was presented in the Copsy study (Corona and Psyche) as part of an online event. Federal Youth Minister Lisa Paus emphasized that 73 percent of young people are enormously stressed by the Corona restrictions, which is also underlined by the report of the interministerial working group on the health effects on children and young people federalgovernment.de reported.

Impact of the pandemic and rising fears

During the pandemic, school children suffered from closed educational institutions and a lack of social contact, which resulted in learning delays and a lack of opportunities for exercise. The evaluation of 2,865 families shows that the mental health of around 22 percent of those surveyed is impaired. Particularly good reasons for this development are the increased use of digital media, which is linked to the increase in bullying and exclusion. Study author Anna Kaman found that every additional hour of media use worsens children's mental health.

The working group also highlighted that social disadvantage - such as low parental education and cramped living conditions - is an almost unavoidable risk factor for mental health. The cabinet decision to support children and young people provides for measures in areas such as early help, school health and youth welfare to enable them to grow up healthy and stable under difficult conditions. Particular emphasis was placed on the proposal to anchor support mechanisms in daycare centers and schools so that they are accessible to everyone.