Teen mental health and lifestyle changes
The University of Sydney conducted research on teen mental health and lifestyle changes. In summary, it reveals numerous facets that affect teens’ life and mental health. The study also reveals that making small lifestyle changes can significantly impact teens’ mental health, whether to improve or diminish it. Small lifestyle changes can greatly improve or worsen teens’ mental health.
Study methodology
The study consisted of about 4400 Australian high school students from 71 different schools in various areas of Australia. The participants reported their level of various lifestyles and levels of psychological distress at ages 12 to 13 and then again at ages 15 to 16. This was a long psychological test and evaluation that used the initial level of psychological distress and lifestyle to isolate.
The impact and consequences
The impact of changes over time can vary. For example, a student who initially experiences minor distress due to positive lifestyle choices may later adopt negative lifestyle habits, leading to worse mental health or increased stress during psychological tests. Studying these traits can help isolate specific factors.
Some of the findings in the research certainly show positive changes, such as each additional hour of sleep per night being directly linked to reducing psychological distress in teens.
The line of physical activities
Moreover, it extended to physical workout. Everyday 60-minute workout or moderately physical activity that is somewhat rigorous per week was directly linked to a 3% reduction in psychological distress. Finally, each serving of food, salads, and vegetables that were added reduced psychological distress by up to 4%. Together, we can see that the addition of these positive lifestyle changes can contribute to indisputable mental health and Decrease the mental anguish or psychological distress up to 13% or even more by just Adapting different positive traits in lifestyle. However, the Research does not end here.
The other side of lifestyle
The research also pointed out the negative side of things. The negative Lifestyle changes also were linked to increase in psychological distress such as junk food and sugary drinks. Each unit of consumption of junk food or sugary drink increases.
The psychological distress by one to 2% alcohol use also Showed around 17% increase in psychological distress and finally smoking increase the psychological distress up-to 36%
The level of screen time
Each addition of an hour of screen time was directly linked to a 2% increase in psychological Distress thus the addition and removal of certain lifestyles can make the teen much more happy and well settled in their lifestyles and mental health.
The implications of this study
The implications of this study or research, even relatively small changes, can have a great behavioral and mental health impact. Whether they are negative or positive depends on the lifestyle changes that the teen is experiencing. Combining all the positive traits and removing the negative traits can lead to a much healthier impact on the person’s mental and somewhat physical health.
The role of adults
Parents can help their teens have a better life by providing them with proper meals and making certain changes to their nutrition. Setting boundaries around screen time and bedtime can also contribute to positive mental health for teens. However, this study cannot serve as a general guide, as it does not account for students’ personal lives, home lives, or relationships which have a much bigger impact on the student’s mental health.
The downplay of the study
The study was Around the time of Covid does as the mental distress on the students can be much higher than that of current day which is post COVID time. Thus it can be much harder to just say that these are straight out facts while certain worthwhile transformations in life can definitely be substantial for you. The study acknowledges that these are not hard cold facts.
The needed support
Increasing the support systems for children, especially teens, can be a great way to help them create an environment that supports healthy lifestyle changes for them. However, those teens that are struggling more with mental health issues need professional care rather than just lifestyle changes; regardless, it is the best practice for parents to provide their children or teens with access to some professional support.
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Reference
Youth mental health and technology. (n.d.). The University of Sydney. https://www.sydney.edu.au/brain-mind/our-research/youth-mental-health-and-technology.html#:~:text=The%20Youth%20Mental%20Health%20and,with%20emerging%20mental%20health%20disorders.