Data from nearly one million young people used in a newly published study demonstrates a link between environmental factors, and youth mental health.
Global statistics on youth mental health make for sobering reading, with depression a leading cause of adolescent illness, and suicide estimated as the third most common cause of death amongst 15-19 year-olds.
A recent study co-led by University of Canterbury (UC) Senior Lecturer in Public Health Dr Matt Hobbs and Dr Nick Bowden from the University of Otago, adds to the body of research investigating the complexities behind these stark figures.
Published in the journal Social Science and Medicine the study, a collaboration between researchers from UC, Otago, and Auckland, is part of a wider project funded by Cure Kids and A Better Start National Science Challenge.
The research investigated a range of protective and detrimental environmental factors that may influence youth mental health.
The results of the study showed that young people living in health-constraining environments were more likely to experience poorer emotional and mental health.
Young people living in health-promoting environments were less likely to have problems with substance-abuse.
Having seen the limitations of less nuanced public health interventions, Dr Hobbs is committed to research that takes multiple factors – including environmental influences – into account.
Dr Hobbs, who has worked at UC since 2018, is a nationally and internationally recognised expert in medical geography.
Dr Hobbs hopes to extend his current research to a longitudinal model that would track the environments study participants were exposed to over time.
Credit: sunlive.co.nz
