Kids feel less family support, more school pressure: WHO Europe

Youths in Europe, Canada and Central Asia feel less family support and more school pressure than before, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday, urging countries to improve teens’ social environments.

The share of adolescents who report high levels of family support fell from 73 percent in 2018 to 67 percent in 2022, with the drop even more pronounced among girls, from 72 percent to 64 percent, the WHO Europe said.

Youths also increasingly report school pressure, it added.

In 2022, almost two-thirds of 15-year-old girls, 63 percent, said they felt pressured by schoolwork — up from 54 percent in 2018 — compared to 43 percent of boys, up from 40 percent.

“Adolescents today are facing unprecedented challenges in their social environments, from declining support at home to increasing pressure at school, with potentially long-term consequences for their health and future life prospects,” WHO Europe regional director Hans Kluge said in a statement.

Teens who report high levels of family support — more likely to be found in more affluent families — often have better mental health than those who report limited or nonexistent support, the WHO said.

The report also found that youths’ peer support had declined, falling from 61 percent to 58 percent, and was most pronounced among girls, where it dropped from 67 percent to 62 percent.

“Girls are often caught between competing expectations of academic excellence and traditional social roles, while boys may face pressure to appear strong and self-reliant, discouraging them from seeking necessary support,” one of the authors of the report, Irene García-Moya, said in the statement.

The WHO said action was needed to support teens, taking into account “significant gender disparities”.

School environments should be made more inclusive by reducing class sizes, implementing mentorship programmes and integrating social-emotional learning into the curriculum, it said.

It added that schools must tackle rising stress levels with balanced homework policies, study skills support and regular student-teacher check-ins.

Governments should also implement targeted financial support for low-income families and invest in parenting programmes to help parents support their children, particularly teenage girls.

The study presented by the WHO surveyed almost 280,000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 in 44 countries in Europe, Canada and Central Asia.