Judging by Recent Headlines When considering policy ideas, you might think that screen time is the only lifestyle behavior that affects teens’ well-being.
But the young are growing Mental health issuesIt’s important not to get into tunnel vision and remember all of the lifestyle levers that may be playing a role.
Our research Released todayfollowed Australian high school students across 71 schools in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. Over time, improvements in sleep, fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity were associated with small but significant improvements in mental health.
The opposite was true when it came to unhealthy behaviors such as screen time, junk food, alcohol consumption and tobacco.
A comprehensive look at youth lifestyles
our New Research The study of more than 4,400 Australian high school students looked at a range of lifestyle behaviours, including sleep, moderate to vigorous physical activity, sedentary (inactive) recreational screen time, fruit and vegetable intake, consumption of junk food and sugary drinks, alcohol intake and smoking.
First, seventh graders (students aged 12-13) were asked to report their levels of these lifestyle behaviors and their psychological distress (a common indicator of mental illness). Familiar measurement scales.
We then looked at how changes in each lifestyle behavior from Year 7 to Year 10 (age 15-16) were associated with levels of psychological distress at Year 10. Importantly, we took into account participants’ reported levels of psychological distress in Year 7, as well as their lifestyle behaviors in Year 7, meaning we can see the average benefits associated with behavior change regardless of where people started from.
Our study showed that as healthy behaviors increased over time, psychological distress decreased. Conversely, increases in health risk behaviors were associated with increases in psychological distress.
How much difference does it make?
On average, looking at change between years 7 and 10, we found that for every additional hour of sleep per night, psychological distress decreased by 9%.
Every additional 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week was associated with a 3% reduction in psychological distress. Every additional serving of fruit or vegetables per day was associated with a 4% reduction in psychological distress.
In contrast, every additional hour of screen time was associated with a 2% increase in psychological distress, and every additional unit of intake of junk food and sugary drinks was associated with a 2% increase.
Because drinking and smoking are uncommon in early adolescence, we only looked at whether or not adolescents had drunk alcohol or smoked in the past 6 months.We found that going from not drinking in year 7 to drinking in year 10 was associated with a 17% increase in psychological distress, and going from not smoking to smoking was associated with a 36% increase in psychological distress.
Importantly, our study cannot say for certain that changes in lifestyle behaviors caused the changes in distress. The study also cannot take into account changes in students’ situations, such as their home lives or relationships. The baseline survey conducted in 2019 and the 10th grade survey conducted in 2022 also considered the impact of COVID-19.
However, our longitudinal study design (following the same subjects over an extended period of time) and the way our analyses are constructed help explain relationships over time.
Although we did not measure e-cigarettes in our study, e-cigarettes, like smoking, are clearly associated with Associations with adolescent mental health.
What does this mean for teens and their parents?
National guidelines for these behaviors set targets based on optimal health goals. Travel Guidelines and Dietary Guidelines For many teens, that may seem out of reach: In fact, most participants in our study did not meet 10th grade guidelines for physical activity, sleep, screen time, or vegetable intake.
Our research shows that healthy lifestyle changes don’t have to be all or nothing.
Even relatively small changes like getting an extra hour of sleep each night, eating an extra serving of fruits and vegetables each day, reducing screen time by an hour, or doing one more day of moderate-to-vigorous exercise each week can lead to improved mental health. Changes in multiple areas can compound to see even better results.
Parents can play a huge role in shaping lifestyle behaviors (even into their teenage years!) Cost and time can be barriers, but anything parents can do within their capabilities is a step in the right direction.
For example, modeling healthy social media usage, changing grocery shopping to be more nutritious and affordable, Introduction of a fixed bedtimeParents can gather information to help their teens make decisions Positive Choice Concerning the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances, including e-cigarettes.
Overall picture
While lifestyle changes can help improve adolescent mental health, they are only one piece of the puzzle. We cannot place the burden of responding to the youth mental health crisis solely on teen lifestyles. There is a lot of work to be done at the school, community and policy levels to create a society that supports young people’s mental health.
Young people with mental health problems may need specialist support and parents or guardians can help them access it. Teenagers and young people should: Reach Out or Kids Helpline Please contact us directly for resources and support.
