According to the World Health Organization (WHO), girls were more affected than boys by the negative impacts of the pandemic, as were older adolescents (15 years old) compared to younger adolescents (11 years old).
Taking into account the data released this Tuesday, which is based on information collected by the countries participating in the Health Behavior at School Age Survey (HBSC), including Portugal, WHO calls for the allocation of specific resources to ” develop responses for girls”. and older adolescents” and reflecting on their needs in response plans for future pandemics.
“There is more and more the idea of the blurring of gender differences (…), but the fact is that girls are different from boys.”told Lusa Tânia Gaspar, coordinator of the HBSC study in Portugal.
The official also underlines one of the conclusions reached: “The things that affect girls’ mental health are much more than boys and this makes the intervention even more complex.”
“While in boys there are two or three points that are fundamental (…), in girls we have many things”explains.
And he adds: “We have school, we have literacy, the mother’s job, we have more stress management strategies, we love school, and this implies that in order to make girls happy, we have to intervene in more things”.
Data released this Tuesday shows that between 15% and 30% of adolescents reported the pandemic had a negative impact on their lives.
While the negative impact is more related to mental health, physical activity and school performance (future expectations), the beneficial effects are more related to the family: “We need to work with families because this is going to have a huge impact on the kids, and then the teachers”, defends Tânia Gaspar.
The official also highlights that teachers acted as “the second source of social support for the positive impact on the pandemic” and illustrates: “The children who had better teacher support did not suffer as much harm and felt less pressure”.
The work, which gathered information from 22 countries, shows that, with regard to mental health and well-being, about 17% to 38% of young people report a negative impact and that adolescents from families of lower socioeconomic status were more affected than those with better socio-economic conditions.
The research also shows that adolescents who report that the pandemic has had a negative impact on their academic performance and relationships with family and friends also report less mental health and more psychological symptoms.
The pandemic negatively impacted the academic performance of one in four teens and about half of young people felt pressure at school, which increased the longer schools were closed.
During the pandemic, there were countries where schools did not close for a single day, such as Finland. The country where schools were closed the most days was Italy (341 days), almost three times more than Portugal (123 days).
The data collected also indicates that adolescents who felt social support from peers and teachers felt less pressure.
Family (relationship with family and communication) was the most important support to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic, followed by teachers, colleagues and finally friends.
For girls, there is a stronger relationship between support from family and teachers and the impact of the pandemic.
Portugal is the sixth country with the highest gender gap in terms of the negative impact of the pandemic
Portugal is the sixth European country with the largest gender gap in the negative impact of the pandemic on young people and adolescents, according to data released today by the World Health Organization.
The research shows that in Portugal the difference in negative impact between boys and girls is greater than the European average.
“Although our data is good, it is less good than those countries that have a culture very close to ours”told Lusa psychologist Tânia Matos, coordinator of HBSC in Portugal.
In a conversation with Lusa, the specialist also recalls that Portugal has one of the greatest differences between genders, between years of education and between socio-economic statuses.
“In short, the inequalities are very pronounced in our country,” he stressed, pointing out that “these situations require special attention.”
In terms of the negative impact of the pandemic on mental health, Portugal is in the European average, but shows a greater negative impact compared to Spain.
In terms of the negative impact on academic performance, family relationships and with friends, Portugal is below the European average, according to WHO data.
Tânia Gaspar also draws attention to the fact that low and medium socio-economic status in Portugal do not differ greatly, emphasizing: “All these issues affect the middle class”.
He recalls that the data shows an “increasingly blurry” middle class, very close to low socioeconomic status, and warns that the economic recession panorama could get worse.
“As we’ve seen, socioeconomic status ultimately influences all of these factors: mental health, school performance, and lifestyle,” he adds.
In the conclusions of this work, WHO argues that the negative impact at school should be taken into account, interventions should be made in groups with different impacts, and adolescents should be heard for post-pandemic recovery. He also says that interpersonal relationships and managing emotions will be important for future stress situations or pandemics.
It also advocates that intervention to promote mental health and well-being should be evaluated and monitored and that mental health support programs and services should be adequate to facilitate access for adolescents and should be appropriate for different ages and genders .
Source: DN
