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150+ Trending Mental Health Research Topics For Students (2023)

Mental health is an important part of our well-being, encompassing our emotional, psychological, and social health. In the United States, the importance of addressing mental health has gained recognition, with growing concerns about stress, anxiety, and depression. 

In this blog, we will guide you the meaning of mental health research topics with our 5 useful tips. Moreover, we give you a list of 150+ Mental Health Research Topics in 2023, including qualitative, interesting, and even controversial ones, you’ll find options that suit your interests. From the impact of social media to the intersection of Mental Health with political science and music therapy, we’ve got you covered. 

Stay tuned for more on mental health research topics, and do not forget our bonus tips for selecting the best topics.

What Is Mental Health?

Table of Contents

Mental health is about how we feel and think inside our minds. It’s like taking care of our thoughts and emotions, just like we take care of our bodies. When our mental health is good, we usually feel happy and calm and can handle life’s challenges. But when our mental health is not so good, we might feel sad, anxious, or overwhelmed.

What Are Mental Health Research Topics? 

Mental health research topics are subjects that scientists and experts study to learn more about our thoughts and emotions. These topics include things like understanding what causes mental health problems, finding better ways to help people who are struggling, and figuring out how to prevent these issues from happening. Researchers also examine how different treatments, like therapy or medication, can help improve mental health.

These research topics are important because they help us learn more about our minds and how to keep them healthy. By studying these topics, scientists can discover new ways to support people who are facing mental health challenges, making it easier for everyone to lead happier and more balanced lives.

5 Useful Tips For Choosing Mental Health Research Topics

Here are some useful tips for choosing mental health research topics: 

1. Your research will be more focused and impactful.

2. You will be more likely to find funding and support.

3. You will be more likely to publish your research in peer-reviewed journals.

4. You will be more likely to make a huge contribution to the field of mental health research.

5. You will be more likely to enjoy your research experience.

Choosing the right mental health research topic is essential for success. By following the tips above, you can choose a topic that is focused, impactful, and relevant to your interests and expertise.

150+ Mental Health Research Topics In 2023

In this section, we will explore 150+ mental health research topics on different categories: 

Mental Health Research Topics For College Students

College students often face unique mental health challenges. Here are 15 research topics for studying mental health in this demographic:

• The impact of academic stress on college students’ mental health.
• Exploring the relationship between sleep patterns and mental well-being among college students.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of campus mental health services.
• Investigating the prevalence of substance abuse and its effects on mental health in college students.
• The role of peer support groups in reducing anxiety and depression among college students.
• Examining the influence of social media usage on the mental health of college students.
• The correlation between mental stress and financial stress issues in college students.
• The value of practicing mindfulness and meditation for college students’ mental health.
• Getting a better idea of how different cultures affect college students’ mental health.
• Trying to figure out how mental health and physical movement affect college students.
•  Investigating the stigma surrounding mental health issues in college environments.
•  Analyzing the role of academic pressure in the onset of eating disorders among college students.
•  The effectiveness of online mental health resources and apps for college students.
•  Examining the mental health challenges faced by LGBTQ+ college students.
•  The impact of COVID-19 and remote learning on the mental health of college students.

Mental Health Research Topics For High School Students

High school students also encounter unique mental health concerns. Here are 15 research topics for studying mental health in this age group:

•  The effects of academic pressure on the mental health of high school students.
•  Investigating the role of family dynamics in the emotional well-being of high school students.
•  Analyzing the impact of bullying and cyberbullying on the mental health of teenagers.
•  The relationship between social media use and body image issues in high school students.
•  Examining the effectiveness of mental health education programs in high schools.
•  Investigating the prevalence of self-harm and suicidal ideation among high school students.
•  Analyzing the influence of peer relationships on the mental health of adolescents.
•  The role of extracurricular activities in promoting positive mental health in high school students.
•  Exploring the effects of substances abuse on the mental well-being of teenagers.
•  Investigating the stigma surrounding mental health issues in high schools.
•  The effects of COVID-19 and remote learning on the mental health of high school students.
•  Examining the mental health challenges faced by immigrant and refugee high school students.
•  Analyzing the relationship between sleep patterns and mental health in adolescents.
•  The effectiveness of art and creative therapies in treating mental health issues in high school students.
•  Investigating the role of teachers and school counselors in supporting students’ mental health.

Mental Health Research Topics For Nursing Students

Nursing students play a vital role in mental health care. Here are 15 research topics relevant to nursing students:

•  The impact of nursing education on students’ mental health.
•  Investigating the effectiveness of therapeutic communication in psychiatric nursing.
•  Analyzing the role of psychiatric medications in mental health treatment.
•  The importance of self-care practices for nursing students’ mental well-being.
•  Exploring the challenges faced by nursing students in caring for patients with severe mental illness.
•  Investigating the influence of nursing curricula on reducing mental health stigma.
•  Analyzing the role of clinical placements in preparing nursing students for mental health nursing.
•  The effects of peer support programs on nursing students’ mental health.
•  Examining the prevalence of burnout and stress among nursing students.
• The importance of cultural skills in nursing care for different mental health patients.
•  Investigating the impact of technology and telehealth on mental health nursing practices.
•  Analyzing the ethical dilemmas faced by nursing students in mental health care.
•  Exploring the use of simulation training in psychiatric nursing education.
•  The effectiveness of mindfulness and stress management programs for nursing students.
•  Finding out what nursing students think about the healing model in mental health care is the goal of this study.

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Psychology Culture, And Mental Health Research Topics

Psychology and culture intersect in complex ways. Here are 15 research topics in this area:

•  Cross-cultural variations in the manifestation of mental disorders.
•  The influence of cultural beliefs on help-seeking behaviors for mental health issues.
•  Analyzing cultural factors in the diagnosis and treatment of depression.
• The effect of acculturation on the mental health of newcomers.
•  Exploring cultural stigma surrounding mental illness in different societies.
•  Investigating the role of traditional healing practices in mental health care.
•  Cross-cultural perspectives on the concept of resilience in mental health.
•  Analyzing cultural variations in the experience of anxiety disorders.
•  The role of cultural competence in psychotherapy and counseling.
•  Exploring indigenous perspectives on mental health and well-being.
•  The impact of globalization on cultural attitudes toward mental health.
•  Investigating the influence of religion and spirituality on mental health outcomes.
•  Analyzing cultural differences in the perception and treatment of eating disorders.
•  The role of cultural identity in coping with trauma and adversity.
•  Cross-cultural perspectives on the use of psychotropic medications in mental health treatment.

Community Mental Health Research Topics

Community mental health research is crucial for improving public well-being. Here are 15 research topics in this field:

•  Evaluating the effectiveness of community-based mental health programs.
•  Investigating the role of peer support networks in community mental health.
•  Analyzing the impact of housing instability on mental health in urban communities.
•  Why early intervention programs are so important for avoiding serious mental illness.
•  Exploring the use of telemedicine in delivering mental health services to underserved communities.
•  Investigating the integration of mental health care into primary care settings.
•  Analyzing the effectiveness of crisis intervention teams in community policing.
•  The role of community art and creative programs in promoting mental well-being.
•  Examining the mental health challenges faced by homeless populations.
•  The impact of community outreach and education on reducing mental health stigma.
•  Investigating the use of community gardens and green spaces for improving mental health.
•  Analyzing the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and mental health disparities.
•  Exploring the role of community leaders and advocates in mental health policy.
•  The effectiveness of community-based substance abuse treatment programs.
•  Finding out what part social determinants of health play in the mental health of a community.

Global Mental Health Research Topics

Mental health is a global issue with unique challenges. Here are 15 research topics in global mental health:

•  Analyzing the burden of mental illness on global public health.
•  Investigating the cultural variations in mental health stigma worldwide.
•   The impact of arms conflict and displacement on mental well-being.
•  Exploring the use of teletherapy for improving access to mental health care in low-resource settings.
•  Analyzing the role of traditional healers in global mental health care.
•  Investigating the mental health challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers.
•  The effectiveness of international mental health aid and interventions.
•  Examining the mental health implications of weather change and natural disasters.
•  Analyzing the global prevalence and treatment of common mental disorders.
•  Exploring the intersection of infectious diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDS) and mental health.
•  Mental Health in Urban Environments: Analyzing the unique challenges faced by individuals living in densely populated urban areas.
•  Mental Health and Digital Technology: Exploring the impact of digital technology on mental well-being across cultures and age groups.
•  Mental Health in Indigenous Communities: Investigating mental health disparities among indigenous populations and the role of cultural preservation.
•  Mental Health in the Workplace: Examining workplace-related stressors and policies to support employees’ mental well-being globally.
•  Youth Mental Health: Studying mental health challenges among children and adolescents, considering factors like education and family dynamics.

Qualitative Mental Health Research Topics

Qualitative research in mental health can provide rich insights into individuals’ experiences and perceptions. Here are 15 qualitative research topics in mental health:

•  Exploring the lived experiences of individuals with schizophrenia.
•  Qualitative analysis of the stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment.
•  Understanding the coping mechanisms of parents with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
•  Investigating the narratives of individuals recovering from addiction.
•  Analyzing the cultural perceptions of depression and its treatment.
•  Examining the subjective experiences of caregivers of dementia patients.
•  Discussing the role of spirituality in the recovery process for people with mental illness.
•  Qualitative assessment of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on stress reduction.
•  Investigating the narratives of survivors of suicide attempts.
•  Understanding the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in mental health care.
•  Analyzing the perceptions of veterans regarding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment.
•  Exploring the subjective experiences of individuals with eating disorders.
•  Qualitative assessment of the role of peer support groups in recovery from substance abuse.
• Investigating the stigma and barriers faced by individuals with bipolar disorder.
• Understanding the cultural variations in perceptions of anxiety disorders.

Interesting Mental Health Research Topics

Fascinating mental health topics can engage researchers and readers alike. Here are 15 intriguing research topics in mental health:

• The impact of virtual reality therapy on anxiety and phobias.
• Investigating the connection between creativity and mental well-being.
• Analyzing the role of pet therapy in reducing stress and anxiety.
• Exploring the effects of nature and green spaces on mental health.
• The relationship between personality types (e.g., introversion, extroversion) and mental health outcomes.
• Investigating the benefits of laughter therapy on mood and stress.
• Analyzing the effects of lucid dreaming on nightmares and trauma.
• Exploring the mental health benefits of volunteering and altruism.
• The impact of time-restricted eating on mood and cognitive function.
• Investigating the use of virtual support groups for individuals with social anxiety.
• Analyzing the relationship between music and memory in Alzheimer’s disease.
• Exploring the mental health effects of color psychology and interior design.
• The role of adventure therapy in enhancing self-esteem and resilience.
• Investigating the influence of childhood hobbies on adult mental well-being.
• Analyzing the connection between humor and emotional intelligence in mental health promotion.

Social Media On Mental Health Research Topics

Social media’s impact on mental health is a timely and relevant research area. Here are 15 research topics on this subject:

• Analyzing the relationship between social media use and feelings of loneliness.
• Investigating the effects of cyberbullying on adolescent mental health.
• The influence of social media comparison on body image dissatisfaction.
• Exploring the role of social media in the dissemination of mental health information.
• Analyzing the impact of social media detoxes on well-being.
• Investigating the link between excessive screen time and sleep disturbances.
• The effects of online support communities on mental health recovery.
• Exploring the role of influencer culture in shaping mental health perceptions.
• Analyzing the relationship between social media activism and mental well-being.
• Investigating the impact of “FOMO” (Fear of Missing Out) on anxiety levels.
• The role of social media in spreading wrong information about mental health.
• Exploring the effects of targeted advertising on mental health outcomes.
• Analyzing the relationship between online gaming and addictive behaviors.
• Investigating the influence of social media on political polarization and mental health.
• The role of social media in fostering a sense of community among marginalized groups with mental health issues.

Cool Mental Health Research Topics

Cool mental health topics can pique interest and lead to innovative research. Here are some cool research topics in mental health:

• Investigating the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances for mental health treatment.
• Analyzing the impact of virtual reality gaming on managing stress and anxiety.
• Exploring the use of artificial intelligence and chatbots in mental health counseling.
• The effectiveness of mindfulness apps and wearable devices in promoting mental well-being.
• Investigating the role of gut microbiota in mood and mental health.
• Analyzing the use of neurofeedback technology for improving attention and focus in ADHD.
• Exploring the benefits of equine-assisted therapy for individuals with PTSD .
• The potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for treating depression.
• Investigating the use of art therapy and virtual art galleries for mental health support.
• Analyzing the impact of music and sound therapy on sleep quality and anxiety.
• Exploring the use of scent and aroma therapy in mood regulation.
• The role of biofeedback and wearable sensors in managing panic disorders.
• Investigating the mental health benefits of urban gardening and green rooftops.
• Analyzing the use of brain-computer interfaces in enhancing emotional regulation.
• Exploring the connection between outdoor adventure activities and resilience in mental health recovery.

Understanding what mental health is and exploring various mental health research topics is crucial in addressing the challenges individuals face today. Choosing the right topic involves considering your audience and interests, as highlighted in our five tips. With 150+ mental health research topics for 2023, we have provided options for college, high school, and nursing students and those interested in psychology, culture, and global perspectives. 

Moreover, qualitative and intriguing topics offer diverse avenues for exploration while acknowledging the impact of social media on mental health is essential. Remember our bonus tips when selecting your mental health research topic – prioritize relevance and impact to make a meaningful contribution to this vital field.

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Research Topics & Ideas: Mental Health

100+ Mental Health Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

If you’re just starting out exploring mental health topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research topic ideation process by providing a hearty list of mental health-related research topics and ideas.

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . To develop a suitable education-related research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan of action to fill that gap.

If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, if you’d like hands-on help, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Overview: Mental Health Topic Ideas

• Mood disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Psychotic disorders
• Personality disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Eating disorders
• Substance-related disorders

Mood Disorders

Research in mood disorders can help understand their causes and improve treatment methods. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• The impact of genetics on the susceptibility to depression
• Efficacy of antidepressants vs. cognitive behavioural therapy
• The role of gut microbiota in mood regulation
• Cultural variations in the experience and diagnosis of bipolar disorder
• Seasonal Affective Disorder: Environmental factors and treatment
• The link between depression and chronic illnesses
• Exercise as an adjunct treatment for mood disorders
• Hormonal changes and mood swings in postpartum women
• Stigma around mood disorders in the workplace
• Suicidal tendencies among patients with severe mood disorders

Anxiety Disorders

Research topics in this category can potentially explore the triggers, coping mechanisms, or treatment efficacy for anxiety disorders.

• The relationship between social media and anxiety
• Exposure therapy effectiveness in treating phobias
• Generalised Anxiety Disorder in children: Early signs and interventions
• The role of mindfulness in treating anxiety
• Genetics and heritability of anxiety disorders
• The link between anxiety disorders and heart disease
• Anxiety prevalence in LGBTQ+ communities
• Caffeine consumption and its impact on anxiety levels
• The economic cost of untreated anxiety disorders
• Virtual Reality as a treatment method for anxiety disorders

Psychotic Disorders

Within this space, your research topic could potentially aim to investigate the underlying factors and treatment possibilities for psychotic disorders.

• Early signs and interventions in adolescent psychosis
• Brain imaging techniques for diagnosing psychotic disorders
• The efficacy of antipsychotic medication
• The role of family history in psychotic disorders
• Misdiagnosis and delayed treatment of psychotic disorders
• Co-morbidity of psychotic and mood disorders
• The relationship between substance abuse and psychotic disorders
• Art therapy as a treatment for schizophrenia
• Public perception and stigma around psychotic disorders
• Hospital vs. community-based care for psychotic disorders

Personality Disorders

Research topics within in this area could delve into the identification, management, and social implications of personality disorders.

• Long-term outcomes of borderline personality disorder
• Antisocial personality disorder and criminal behaviour
• The role of early life experiences in developing personality disorders
• Narcissistic personality disorder in corporate leaders
• Gender differences in personality disorders
• Diagnosis challenges for Cluster A personality disorders
• Emotional intelligence and its role in treating personality disorders
• Psychotherapy methods for treating personality disorders
• Personality disorders in the elderly population
• Stigma and misconceptions about personality disorders

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Within this space, research topics could focus on the causes, symptoms, or treatment of disorders like OCD and hoarding.

• OCD and its relationship with anxiety disorders
• Cognitive mechanisms behind hoarding behaviour
• Deep Brain Stimulation as a treatment for severe OCD
• The impact of OCD on academic performance in students
• Role of family and social networks in treating OCD
• Alternative treatments for hoarding disorder
• Childhood onset OCD: Diagnosis and treatment
• OCD and religious obsessions
• The impact of OCD on family dynamics
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Causes and treatment

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Research topics in this area could explore the triggers, symptoms, and treatments for PTSD. Here are some thought starters to get you moving.

• PTSD in military veterans: Coping mechanisms and treatment
• Childhood trauma and adult onset PTSD
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) efficacy
• Role of emotional support animals in treating PTSD
• Gender differences in PTSD occurrence and treatment
• Effectiveness of group therapy for PTSD patients
• PTSD and substance abuse: A dual diagnosis
• First responders and rates of PTSD
• Domestic violence as a cause of PTSD
• The neurobiology of PTSD

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

This category of mental health aims to better understand disorders like Autism and ADHD and their impact on day-to-day life.

• Early diagnosis and interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder
• ADHD medication and its impact on academic performance
• Parental coping strategies for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
• Autism and gender: Diagnosis disparities
• The role of diet in managing ADHD symptoms
• Neurodevelopmental disorders in the criminal justice system
• Genetic factors influencing Autism
• ADHD and its relationship with sleep disorders
• Educational adaptations for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
• Neurodevelopmental disorders and stigma in schools

Eating Disorders

Research topics within this space can explore the psychological, social, and biological aspects of eating disorders.

• The role of social media in promoting eating disorders
• Family dynamics and their impact on anorexia
• Biological basis of binge-eating disorder
• Treatment outcomes for bulimia nervosa
• Eating disorders in athletes
• Media portrayal of body image and its impact
• Eating disorders and gender: Are men underdiagnosed?
• Cultural variations in eating disorders
• The relationship between obesity and eating disorders
• Eating disorders in the LGBTQ+ community

Substance-Related Disorders

Research topics in this category can focus on addiction mechanisms, treatment options, and social implications.

• Efficacy of rehabilitation centres for alcohol addiction
• The role of genetics in substance abuse
• Substance abuse and its impact on family dynamics
• Prescription drug abuse among the elderly
• Legalisation of marijuana and its impact on substance abuse rates
• Alcoholism and its relationship with liver diseases
• Opioid crisis: Causes and solutions
• Substance abuse education in schools: Is it effective?
• Harm reduction strategies for drug abuse
• Co-occurring mental health disorders in substance abusers

Choosing A Research Topic

These research topic ideas we’ve covered here serve as thought starters to help you explore different areas within mental health. They are intentionally very broad and open-ended. By engaging with the currently literature in your field of interest, you’ll be able to narrow down your focus to a specific research gap .

It’s important to consider a variety of factors when choosing a topic for your dissertation or thesis . Think about the relevance of the topic, its feasibility , and the resources available to you, including time, data, and academic guidance. Also, consider your own interest and expertise in the subject, as this will sustain you through the research process.

Always consult with your academic advisor to ensure that your chosen topic aligns with academic requirements and offers a meaningful contribution to the field. If you need help choosing a topic, consider our private coaching service.

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Good morning everyone. This are very patent topics for research in neuroscience. Thank you for guidance

What if everything is important, original and intresting? as in Neuroscience. I find myself overwhelmd with tens of relveant areas and within each area many optional topics. I ask myself if importance (for example – able to treat people suffering) is more relevant than what intrest me, and on the other hand if what advance me further in my career should not also be a consideration?

This information is really helpful and have learnt alot

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Getting to Know Your Brain: Dealing with Stress

April 27, 2021

Hello! Welcome to the Getting to Know Your Brain: Dealing With Stress. We will be talking about what stress and anxiety are, where they come from, and different ways of coping with them. We will also talk about how the brain works in teenagers and why this is such an important time of development. So, let's get going! Okay, so we are talking about stress and anxiety. So the first question is: are they the same thing?

Well, the answer is no. While the signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety can be the same, they are not the same thing.

So here are some of the differences between stress and anxiety. Stress is generally a response to an external cause, such as taking a big test or arguing with a friend. It goes away once the situation is resolved and it can be positive or negative. For example, it may inspire you to meet a deadline or it may cause you to lose sleep. One is good and one is bad. Anxiety, on the other hand, is generally an internal thing, meaning it is your reaction to stress; it's coming from your brain. It usually involves a persistent feeling of apprehension or dread that doesn't go away and that interferes with how you live your life. It is a constant thing even if there is no immediate threat around you. So those are the major differences between stress and anxiety.

Okay, so I did say at the beginning that we’d talk about how brain function is different in teenagers and that leads us to question number two: why is adolescence an important time in brain development?

So, the answer is that adolescence is a time of many psychological and physical changes, especially in the brain. Some of the most important changes going on during development in adolescence is in the limbic system and the executive system. Both of these areas are still maturing. The cortex, which is in the executive area, controls the impulses and the emotions that come from the limbic system, but the communication between these two areas are not fully developed in adolescents yet.

The teenage years are a time when there is a massive burst of growth and development in these brain areas. This actually changes the structure of your brain and the connections between neurons. Because so much is going on, this is a time when your brain is extra sensitive to the things going on in your environment, both good and bad. But it also means that this is a perfect opportunity to begin developing healthy behaviors so to become a habit for the rest of your life. Part of that is learning how to deal with stress and anxiety.

Okay, so we know that we all have stress in our lives and many of us experience anxiety at some points, as well. Is it okay to just ignore the symptoms of anxiety?

Well, the answer to that is no, of course. It is important to be aware of your emotions and how your body feels. You should always be aware of your mind and body reactions whenever you're having excessive stress, whether it is good or bad stress.

It's important to be able to identify the signs of stress. Some of these things can be rapid heart rates, having headaches, stomach aches, a lack of energy, being irritable, decreased concentration or ability to focus, body aches and pains, or weight gain or weight loss. It's important to recognize your emotions and how your body feels to know what you're feeling and why you're feeling that way. Sometimes just admitting that a situation is stressful and being prepared to deal with it can reduce your anxiety. Once you recognize that you're having some symptoms of stress or anxiety like feeling agitated, rapid heart rate, worrying, losing focus a lot, or any of those other symptoms listed on the last slide, you can take charge of it by addressing it and trying to reduce those symptoms. Some options are trying to exercise, meditation, getting organized, which is a way of taking control of what you can control, taking some me time, doing things you enjoy, or even just making sure you're getting enough sleep, but not too much sleep, remember that that could also be a symptom of stress.

Okay, so we've covered some options for coping with stress so far. That leads us to the next question: are there any wrong ways of coping with stress?

Well, the answer to that one is a big yes. There are several ways people might try to cope with stress that actually just make things worse. Some unhealthy coping strategies that some people might try are things like using drugs, overeating, smoking, taking it out on others, watching TV mindlessly, or playing video games all day, or oversleeping. All of these things might make you feel better in the short term, but in the long run they end up just making things a lot worse. Some positive options that are some that were mentioned earlier like my exercise or meditation, as well as going to therapy, talking things out with friends or family, writing in a journal, or picking up a creative hobby to focus on.

Remember, like I mentioned earlier, the burst of growth and development the teen brain goes through makes it extra sensitive to everything going on around you, and the choices you make now can lead to forming healthy or unhealthy behaviors that will develop into lifelong habits. So it's super important to make the positive choices now.

Okay, so we've talked about a few different positive coping strategies, but how do you decide what works for you? Or, even if you do already practice some of them, you could try a few different things by using a stress catcher.

You can download the template for a stress catcher at www.nimh.nih.gov/stresscatcher . From that website you can print out the template and directions for making it, and then use it to randomly choose a new coping strategy to try.

After downloading and printing the template from the NIMH website, color your stress catcher.

When you're done coloring, cut out the square.

Place the stress catcher face down, fold each corner to the opposite corner, and then unfold to create two diagonal creases in the square.

Fold each corner toward the center of the square so that the numbers and colors are facing you.

Turn over the square and again fold each corner into the center so that the color names are visible.

Fold the square in half so that the color names are touching and the numbers are on the outside.

Then open it and fold it in half the other way.

Turn over the square and insert your thumb and first finger of each hand in a pinching motion under the flaps.

To use your stress catcher, pick a number and open and close the stress catcher that number of times.

When you're done, it should be open so you can see the colors. Pick a color. You can either continue to open and close the stress catcher, once for each letter of the color you chose, or open it and read what is underneath that color. Then, try what it says. Once you have tried that method for reducing stress, you can use the stress catcher again either by yourself or with a friend.

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Home » 500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

Table of Contents

Qualitative research is a methodological approach that involves gathering and analyzing non-numerical data to understand and interpret social phenomena. Unlike quantitative research , which emphasizes the collection of numerical data through surveys and experiments, qualitative research is concerned with exploring the subjective experiences, perspectives, and meanings of individuals and groups. As such, qualitative research topics can be diverse and encompass a wide range of social issues and phenomena. From exploring the impact of culture on identity formation to examining the experiences of marginalized communities, qualitative research offers a rich and nuanced perspective on complex social issues. In this post, we will explore some of the most compelling qualitative research topics and provide some tips on how to conduct effective qualitative research.

Qualitative Research Titles

Qualitative research titles often reflect the study’s focus on understanding the depth and complexity of human behavior, experiences, or social phenomena. Here are some examples across various fields:

• “Understanding the Impact of Project-Based Learning on Student Engagement in High School Classrooms: A Qualitative Study”
• “Navigating the Transition: Experiences of International Students in American Universities”
• “The Role of Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education: Perspectives from Teachers and Parents”
• “Exploring the Effects of Teacher Feedback on Student Motivation and Self-Efficacy in Middle Schools”
• “Digital Literacy in the Classroom: Teacher Strategies for Integrating Technology in Elementary Education”
• “Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices: A Case Study in Diverse Urban Schools”
• “The Influence of Extracurricular Activities on Academic Achievement: Student Perspectives”
• “Barriers to Implementing Inclusive Education in Public Schools: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “Teacher Professional Development and Its Impact on Classroom Practice: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “Student-Centered Learning Environments: A Qualitative Study of Classroom Dynamics and Outcomes”
• “The Experience of First-Year Teachers: Challenges, Support Systems, and Professional Growth”
• “Exploring the Role of School Leadership in Fostering a Positive School Culture”
• “Peer Relationships and Learning Outcomes in Cooperative Learning Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “The Impact of Social Media on Student Learning and Engagement: Teacher and Student Perspectives”
• “Understanding Special Education Needs: Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Support Services in Schools

Health Science

• “Living with Chronic Pain: Patient Narratives and Coping Strategies in Managing Daily Life”
• “Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on the Challenges of Rural Healthcare Delivery”
• “Exploring the Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on Frontline Healthcare Workers: A Qualitative Study”
• “Patient and Family Experiences of Palliative Care: Understanding Needs and Preferences”
• “The Role of Community Health Workers in Improving Access to Maternal Healthcare in Rural Areas”
• “Barriers to Mental Health Services Among Ethnic Minorities: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “Understanding Patient Satisfaction in Telemedicine Services: A Qualitative Study of User Experiences”
• “The Impact of Cultural Competence Training on Healthcare Provider-Patient Communication”
• “Navigating the Transition to Adult Healthcare Services: Experiences of Adolescents with Chronic Conditions”
• “Exploring the Use of Alternative Medicine Among Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “The Role of Social Support in the Rehabilitation Process of Stroke Survivors”
• “Healthcare Decision-Making Among Elderly Patients: A Qualitative Study of Preferences and Influences”
• “Nurse Perceptions of Patient Safety Culture in Hospital Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “Experiences of Women with Postpartum Depression: Barriers to Seeking Help”
• “The Impact of Nutrition Education on Eating Behaviors Among College Students: A Qualitative Approach”
• “Understanding Resilience in Survivors of Childhood Trauma: A Narrative Inquiry”
• “The Role of Mindfulness in Managing Work-Related Stress Among Corporate Employees: A Qualitative Study”
• “Coping Mechanisms Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
• “Exploring the Psychological Impact of Social Isolation in the Elderly: A Phenomenological Study”
• “Identity Formation in Adolescence: The Influence of Social Media and Peer Groups”
• “The Experience of Forgiveness in Interpersonal Relationships: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “Perceptions of Happiness and Well-Being Among University Students: A Cultural Perspective”
• “The Impact of Art Therapy on Anxiety and Depression in Adult Cancer Patients”
• “Narratives of Recovery: A Qualitative Study on the Journey Through Addiction Rehabilitation”
• “Exploring the Psychological Effects of Long-Term Unemployment: A Grounded Theory Approach”
• “Attachment Styles and Their Influence on Adult Romantic Relationships: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “The Role of Personal Values in Career Decision-Making Among Young Adults”
• “Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness in Rural Communities: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “Exploring the Use of Digital Mental Health Interventions Among Adolescents: A Qualitative Study”
• “The Psychological Impact of Climate Change on Young Adults: An Exploration of Anxiety and Action”
• “Navigating Identity: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Youth Culture and Self-Perception”
• “Community Resilience in the Face of Urban Gentrification: A Case Study of Neighborhood Change”
• “The Dynamics of Intergenerational Relationships in Immigrant Families: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “Social Capital and Economic Mobility in Low-Income Neighborhoods: An Ethnographic Approach”
• “Gender Roles and Career Aspirations Among Young Adults in Conservative Societies”
• “The Stigma of Mental Health in the Workplace: Employee Narratives and Organizational Culture”
• “Exploring the Intersection of Race, Class, and Education in Urban School Systems”
• “The Impact of Digital Divide on Access to Healthcare Information in Rural Communities”
• “Social Movements and Political Engagement Among Millennials: A Qualitative Study”
• “Cultural Adaptation and Identity Among Second-Generation Immigrants: A Phenomenological Inquiry”
• “The Role of Religious Institutions in Providing Community Support and Social Services”
• “Negotiating Public Space: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Individuals in Urban Environments”
• “The Sociology of Food: Exploring Eating Habits and Food Practices Across Cultures”
• “Work-Life Balance Challenges Among Dual-Career Couples: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “The Influence of Peer Networks on Substance Use Among Adolescents: A Community Study”

Business and Management

• “Navigating Organizational Change: Employee Perceptions and Adaptation Strategies in Mergers and Acquisitions”
• “Corporate Social Responsibility: Consumer Perceptions and Brand Loyalty in the Retail Sector”
• “Leadership Styles and Organizational Culture: A Comparative Study of Tech Startups”
• “Workplace Diversity and Inclusion: Best Practices and Challenges in Multinational Corporations”
• “Consumer Trust in E-commerce: A Qualitative Study of Online Shopping Behaviors”
• “The Gig Economy and Worker Satisfaction: Exploring the Experiences of Freelance Professionals”
• “Entrepreneurial Resilience: Success Stories and Lessons Learned from Failed Startups”
• “Employee Engagement and Productivity in Remote Work Settings: A Post-Pandemic Analysis”
• “Brand Storytelling: How Narrative Strategies Influence Consumer Engagement”
• “Sustainable Business Practices: Stakeholder Perspectives in the Fashion Industry”
• “Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges in Global Teams: Strategies for Effective Collaboration”
• “Innovative Workspaces: The Impact of Office Design on Creativity and Collaboration”
• “Consumer Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Customer Service: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “The Role of Mentoring in Career Development: Insights from Women in Leadership Positions”
• “Agile Management Practices: Adoption and Impact in Traditional Industries”

Environmental Studies

• “Community-Based Conservation Efforts in Tropical Rainforests: A Qualitative Study of Local Perspectives and Practices”
• “Urban Sustainability Initiatives: Exploring Resident Participation and Impact in Green City Projects”
• “Perceptions of Climate Change Among Indigenous Populations: Insights from Traditional Ecological Knowledge”
• “Environmental Justice and Industrial Pollution: A Case Study of Community Advocacy and Response”
• “The Role of Eco-Tourism in Promoting Conservation Awareness: Perspectives from Tour Operators and Visitors”
• “Sustainable Agriculture Practices Among Smallholder Farmers: Challenges and Opportunities”
• “Youth Engagement in Climate Action Movements: Motivations, Perceptions, and Outcomes”
• “Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Qualitative Analysis of Stakeholder Expectations and Company Practices”
• “The Impact of Plastic Pollution on Marine Ecosystems: Community Awareness and Behavioral Change”
• “Renewable Energy Adoption in Rural Communities: Barriers, Facilitators, and Social Implications”
• “Water Scarcity and Community Adaptation Strategies in Arid Regions: A Grounded Theory Approach”
• “Urban Green Spaces: Public Perceptions and Use Patterns in Megacities”
• “Environmental Education in Schools: Teachers’ Perspectives on Integrating Sustainability into Curricula”
• “The Influence of Environmental Activism on Policy Change: Case Studies of Grassroots Campaigns”
• “Cultural Practices and Natural Resource Management: A Qualitative Study of Indigenous Stewardship Models”

Anthropology

• “Kinship and Social Organization in Matrilineal Societies: An Ethnographic Study”
• “Rituals and Beliefs Surrounding Death and Mourning in Diverse Cultures: A Comparative Analysis”
• “The Impact of Globalization on Indigenous Languages and Cultural Identity”
• “Food Sovereignty and Traditional Agricultural Practices Among Indigenous Communities”
• “Navigating Modernity: The Integration of Traditional Healing Practices in Contemporary Healthcare Systems”
• “Gender Roles and Equality in Hunter-Gatherer Societies: An Anthropological Perspective”
• “Sacred Spaces and Religious Practices: An Ethnographic Study of Pilgrimage Sites”
• “Youth Subcultures and Resistance: An Exploration of Identity and Expression in Urban Environments”
• “Cultural Constructions of Disability and Inclusion: A Cross-Cultural Analysis”
• “Interethnic Marriages and Cultural Syncretism: Case Studies from Multicultural Societies”
• “The Role of Folklore and Storytelling in Preserving Cultural Heritage”
• “Economic Anthropology of Gift-Giving and Reciprocity in Tribal Communities”
• “Digital Anthropology: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Movements”
• “Migration and Diaspora: Maintaining Cultural Identity in Transnational Communities”
• “Cultural Adaptations to Climate Change Among Coastal Fishing Communities”

Communication Studies

• “The Dynamics of Family Communication in the Digital Age: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “Narratives of Identity and Belonging in Diaspora Communities Through Social Media”
• “Organizational Communication and Employee Engagement: A Case Study in the Non-Profit Sector”
• “Cultural Influences on Communication Styles in Multinational Teams: An Ethnographic Approach”
• “Media Representation of Women in Politics: A Content Analysis and Audience Perception Study”
• “The Role of Communication in Building Sustainable Community Development Projects”
• “Interpersonal Communication in Online Dating: Strategies, Challenges, and Outcomes”
• “Public Health Messaging During Pandemics: A Qualitative Study of Community Responses”
• “The Impact of Mobile Technology on Parent-Child Communication in the Digital Era”
• “Crisis Communication Strategies in the Hospitality Industry: A Case Study of Reputation Management”
• “Narrative Analysis of Personal Stories Shared on Mental Health Blogs”
• “The Influence of Podcasts on Political Engagement Among Young Adults”
• “Visual Communication and Brand Identity: A Qualitative Study of Consumer Interpretations”
• “Communication Barriers in Cross-Cultural Healthcare Settings: Patient and Provider Perspectives”
• “The Role of Internal Communication in Managing Organizational Change: Employee Experiences”

Information Technology

• “User Experience Design in Augmented Reality Applications: A Qualitative Study of Best Practices”
• “The Human Factor in Cybersecurity: Understanding Employee Behaviors and Attitudes Towards Phishing”
• “Adoption of Cloud Computing in Small and Medium Enterprises: Challenges and Success Factors”
• “Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management: A Qualitative Exploration of Potential Impacts”
• “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Personalizing User Experiences on E-commerce Platforms”
• “Digital Transformation in Traditional Industries: A Case Study of Technology Adoption Challenges”
• “Ethical Considerations in the Development of Smart Home Technologies: A Stakeholder Analysis”
• “The Impact of Social Media Algorithms on News Consumption and Public Opinion”
• “Collaborative Software Development: Practices and Challenges in Open Source Projects”
• “Understanding the Digital Divide: Access to Information Technology in Rural Communities”
• “Data Privacy Concerns and User Trust in Internet of Things (IoT) Devices”
• “The Effectiveness of Gamification in Educational Software: A Qualitative Study of Engagement and Motivation”
• “Virtual Teams and Remote Work: Communication Strategies and Tools for Effectiveness”
• “User-Centered Design in Mobile Health Applications: Evaluating Usability and Accessibility”
• “The Influence of Technology on Work-Life Balance: Perspectives from IT Professionals”

Tourism and Hospitality

• “Exploring the Authenticity of Cultural Heritage Tourism in Indigenous Communities”
• “Sustainable Tourism Practices: Perceptions and Implementations in Small Island Destinations”
• “The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Destination Choice Among Millennials”
• “Gastronomy Tourism: Exploring the Culinary Experiences of International Visitors in Rural Regions”
• “Eco-Tourism and Conservation: Stakeholder Perspectives on Balancing Tourism and Environmental Protection”
• “The Role of Hospitality in Enhancing the Cultural Exchange Experience of Exchange Students”
• “Dark Tourism: Visitor Motivations and Experiences at Historical Conflict Sites”
• “Customer Satisfaction in Luxury Hotels: A Qualitative Study of Service Excellence and Personalization”
• “Adventure Tourism: Understanding the Risk Perception and Safety Measures Among Thrill-Seekers”
• “The Influence of Local Communities on Tourist Experiences in Ecotourism Sites”
• “Event Tourism: Economic Impacts and Community Perspectives on Large-Scale Music Festivals”
• “Heritage Tourism and Identity: Exploring the Connections Between Historic Sites and National Identity”
• “Tourist Perceptions of Sustainable Accommodation Practices: A Study of Green Hotels”
• “The Role of Language in Shaping the Tourist Experience in Multilingual Destinations”
• “Health and Wellness Tourism: Motivations and Experiences of Visitors to Spa and Retreat Centers”

Qualitative Research Topics

Qualitative Research Topics are as follows:

• Understanding the lived experiences of first-generation college students
• Exploring the impact of social media on self-esteem among adolescents
• Investigating the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction
• Analyzing the perceptions of employees regarding organizational culture
• Examining the impact of parental involvement on academic achievement of elementary school students
• Investigating the role of music therapy in managing symptoms of depression
• Understanding the experience of women in male-dominated industries
• Exploring the factors that contribute to successful leadership in non-profit organizations
• Analyzing the effects of peer pressure on substance abuse among adolescents
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with disabilities in the workplace
• Understanding the factors that contribute to burnout among healthcare professionals
• Examining the impact of social support on mental health outcomes
• Analyzing the perceptions of parents regarding sex education in schools
• Investigating the experiences of immigrant families in the education system
• Understanding the impact of trauma on mental health outcomes
• Exploring the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy for individuals with anxiety
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful intergenerational relationships
• Investigating the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of online gaming on social skills development among adolescents
• Examining the perceptions of teachers regarding technology integration in the classroom
• Analyzing the experiences of women in leadership positions
• Investigating the factors that contribute to successful marriage and long-term relationships
• Understanding the impact of social media on political participation
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with mental health disorders in the criminal justice system
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for youth development
• Investigating the experiences of veterans in accessing mental health services
• Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood obesity prevention
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful multicultural education programs
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of poverty on academic achievement
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee retention strategies
• Investigating the experiences of caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease
• Understanding the impact of parent-child communication on adolescent sexual behavior
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health services on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in the workplace
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of mentorship on career success
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for mental health
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of social media on romantic relationships
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding child discipline strategies
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful cross-cultural communication in the workplace
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on healthcare delivery
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing loss in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful parent-teacher communication
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with depression in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health outcomes
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding alcohol and drug use on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentor-mentee relationships
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of work-family balance on employee satisfaction and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in vocational rehabilitation programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project management in the construction industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in peer support groups
• Understanding the impact of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction and mental health
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood nutrition
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful environmental sustainability initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with bipolar disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of job stress on employee burnout and turnover
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in recreational activities
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful strategic planning in nonprofit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with hoarding disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of culture on leadership styles and effectiveness
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding sexual health education on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain management in the retail industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with personality disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of multiculturalism on group dynamics in the workplace
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in mindfulness-based pain management programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee engagement strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with internet addiction disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of social comparison on body dissatisfaction and self-esteem
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood sleep habits
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful diversity and inclusion initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of job crafting on employee motivation and job satisfaction
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with vision impairments in navigating public spaces
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer relationship management strategies in the service industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative amnesia in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural intelligence on intercultural communication and collaboration
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding campus diversity and inclusion efforts
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain sustainability initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of transformational leadership on organizational performance and employee well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with mobility impairments in public transportation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful talent management strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in harm reduction programs
• Understanding the impact of gratitude practices on well-being and resilience
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood mental health and well-being
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful corporate social responsibility initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of emotional labor on job stress and burnout
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in healthcare settings
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer experience strategies in the hospitality industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with gender dysphoria in gender-affirming healthcare
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural negotiation in the global marketplace
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding academic stress and mental health
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain agility in organizations
• Understanding the impact of music therapy on mental health and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with dyslexia in educational settings
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful leadership in nonprofit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in online support groups
• Understanding the impact of exercise on mental health and well-being
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood screen time
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful change management strategies in organizations
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on international business negotiations
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in corporate settings
• Understanding the impact of technology on communication in romantic relationships
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community engagement strategies for local governments
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of financial stress on mental health and well-being
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentorship programs in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with gambling addictions in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of social media on body image and self-esteem
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood education
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful virtual team management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative identity disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in healthcare settings
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-building strategies in urban neighborhoods
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with alcohol use disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of personality traits on romantic relationships
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health stigma on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful fundraising strategies for political campaigns
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with traumatic brain injuries in rehabilitation programs
• Understanding the impact of social support on mental health and well-being among the elderly
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in medical treatment decision-making processes
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful innovation strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in education settings
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood physical activity
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in family relationships
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with opioid use disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of emotional intelligence on leadership effectiveness
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with learning disabilities in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful change management in educational institutions
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in recovery support groups
• Understanding the impact of self-compassion on mental health and well-being
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding campus safety and security measures
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful marketing strategies for nonprofit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with postpartum depression in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of ageism in the workplace
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with dyslexia in the education system
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of socioeconomic status on access to healthcare
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood screen time usage
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain management strategies
• Understanding the impact of parenting styles on child development
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with addiction in harm reduction programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful crisis management strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with trauma in trauma-focused therapy programs
• Examining the perceptions of healthcare providers regarding patient-centered care
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful product development strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in employment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural competence on healthcare outcomes
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in healthcare navigation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community engagement strategies for non-profit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain sustainability strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with personality disorders in dialectical behavior therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of gender identity on mental health treatment seeking behaviors
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia in community-based treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project team management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder in exposure and response prevention therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural competence on academic achievement and success
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding academic integrity
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful social media marketing strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with bipolar disorder in community-based treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of mindfulness on academic achievement and success
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in medication-assisted treatment programs
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in exposure therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of healthcare disparities on health outcomes
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain optimization strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in schema therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of culture on perceptions of mental health stigma
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with trauma in art therapy programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful digital marketing strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in online support groups
• Understanding the impact of workplace bullying on job satisfaction and performance
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health resources on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain risk management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in mindfulness-based pain management programs
• Understanding the impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety disorder
• Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful leadership in business organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on intercultural communication
• Examining the perceptions of teachers regarding inclusive education for students with disabilities
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with depression in therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of workplace culture on employee retention and turnover
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with traumatic brain injuries in rehabilitation programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful crisis communication strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in mindfulness-based interventions
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in healthcare settings
• Understanding the impact of technology on work-life balance
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with learning disabilities in academic settings
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful entrepreneurship in small businesses
• Understanding the impact of gender identity on mental health and well-being
• Examining the perceptions of individuals with disabilities regarding accessibility in public spaces
• Understanding the impact of religion on coping strategies for stress and anxiety
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in complementary and alternative medicine treatments
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer retention strategies in business organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with postpartum depression in therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of ageism on older adults in healthcare settings
• Examining the perceptions of students regarding online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in virtual work environments
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with gambling disorders in treatment programs
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in peer support groups
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful social media marketing strategies for businesses
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with ADHD in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of sleep on cognitive and emotional functioning
• Examining the perceptions of individuals with chronic illnesses regarding healthcare access and affordability
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in dialectical behavior therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of social support on caregiver well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in disability activism
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful cultural competency training programs in healthcare settings
• Understanding the impact of personality disorders on interpersonal relationships
• Examining the perceptions of healthcare providers regarding the use of telehealth services
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative disorders in therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of gender bias in hiring practices
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with visual impairments in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful diversity and inclusion programs in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of online dating on romantic relationships
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood vaccination
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful communication in healthcare settings
• Understanding the impact of cultural stereotypes on academic achievement
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in sober living programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful classroom management strategies
• Understanding the impact of social support on addiction recovery
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health stigma
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of race and ethnicity on healthcare access and outcomes
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder in treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project management strategies
• Understanding the impact of teacher-student relationships on academic achievement
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer service strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with social anxiety disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of workplace stress on job satisfaction and performance
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with disabilities in sports and recreation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful marketing strategies for small businesses
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with phobias in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of culture on attitudes towards mental health and illness
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding sexual assault prevention
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful time management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with addiction in recovery support groups
• Understanding the impact of mindfulness on emotional regulation and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in romantic relationships
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in social skills training programs
• Understanding the impact of parent-child communication on adolescent substance use
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood mental health services
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful fundraising strategies for non-profit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in support groups
• Understanding the impact of personality traits on career success and satisfaction
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with disabilities in accessing public transportation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in sports teams
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in alternative medicine treatments
• Understanding the impact of stigma on mental health treatment seeking behaviors
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding diversity and inclusion on campus.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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55 research questions about mental health

Last updated

11 March 2024

Reviewed by

Brittany Ferri, PhD, OTR/L

Research in the mental health space helps fill knowledge gaps and create a fuller picture for patients, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. Over time, these efforts result in better quality care and more accessible treatment options for those who need them.

Use this list of mental health research questions to kickstart your next project or assignment and give yourself the best chance of producing successful and fulfilling research.

• Why does mental health research matter?

Mental health research is an essential area of study. It includes any research that focuses on topics related to people’s mental and emotional well-being.

As a complex health topic that, despite the prevalence of mental health conditions, still has an unending number of unanswered questions, the need for thorough research into causes, triggers, and treatment options is clear.

Research into this heavily stigmatized and often misunderstood topic is needed to find better ways to support people struggling with mental health conditions. Understanding what causes them is another crucial area of study, as it enables individuals, companies, and policymakers to make well-informed choices that can help prevent illnesses like anxiety and depression.

• How to choose a strong mental health research topic

As one of the most important parts of beginning a new research project, picking a topic that is intriguing, unique, and in demand is a great way to get the best results from your efforts.

Mental health is a blanket term with many niches and specific areas to explore. But, no matter which direction you choose, follow the tips below to ensure you pick the right topic.

Prioritize your interests and skills

While a big part of research is exploring a new and exciting topic, this exploration is best done within a topic or niche in which you are interested and experienced.

Research is tough, even at the best of times. To combat fatigue and increase your chances of pushing through to the finish line, we recommend choosing a topic that aligns with your personal interests, training, or skill set.

Consider emerging trends

Topical and current research questions are hot commodities because they offer solutions and insights into culturally and socially relevant problems.

Depending on the scope and level of freedom you have with your upcoming research project, choosing a topic that’s trending in your area of study is one way to get support and funding (if you need it).

Not every study can be based on a cutting-edge topic, but this can be a great way to explore a new space and create baseline research data for future studies.

Assess your resources and timeline

Before choosing a super ambitious and exciting research topic, consider your project restrictions.

You’ll need to think about things like your research timeline, access to resources and funding, and expected project scope when deciding how broad your research topic will be. In most cases, it’s better to start small and focus on a specific area of study.

Broad research projects are expensive and labor and resource-intensive. They can take years or even decades to complete. Before biting off more than you can chew, consider your scope and find a research question that fits within it.

Read up on the latest research

Finally, once you have narrowed in on a specific topic, you need to read up on the latest studies and published research. A thorough research assessment is a great way to gain some background context on your chosen topic and stops you from repeating a study design. Using the existing work as your guide, you can explore more specific and niche questions to provide highly beneficial answers and insights.

• Trending research questions for post-secondary students

As a post-secondary student, finding interesting research questions that fit within the scope of your classes or resources can be challenging. But, with a little bit of effort and pre-planning, you can find unique mental health research topics that will meet your class or project requirements.

Examples of research topics for post-secondary students include the following:

How does school-related stress impact a person’s mental health?

To what extent does burnout impact mental health in medical students?

How does chronic school stress impact a student’s physical health?

How does exam season affect the severity of mental health symptoms?

Is mental health counseling effective for students in an acute mental crisis?

• Research questions about anxiety and depression

Anxiety and depression are two of the most commonly spoken about mental health conditions. You might assume that research about these conditions has already been exhausted or that it’s no longer in demand. That’s not the case at all.

According to a 2022 survey by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12.5% of American adults struggle with regular feelings of worry, nervousness, and anxiety, and 5% struggle with regular feelings of depression. These percentages amount to millions of lives affected, meaning new research into these conditions is essential.

If either of these topics interests you, here are a few trending research questions you could consider:

Does gender play a role in the early diagnosis of anxiety?

How does untreated anxiety impact quality of life?

What are the most common symptoms of anxiety in working professionals aged 20–29?

To what extent do treatment delays impact quality of life in patients with undiagnosed anxiety?

To what extent does stigma affect the quality of care received by people with anxiety?

Here are some examples of research questions about depression:

Does diet play a role in the severity of depression symptoms?

Can people have a genetic predisposition to developing depression?

How common is depression in work-from-home employees?

Does mood journaling help manage depression symptoms?

What role does exercise play in the management of depression symptoms?

• Research questions about personality disorders

Personality disorders are complex mental health conditions tied to a person’s behaviors, sense of self, and how they interact with the world around them. Without a diagnosis and treatment, people with personality disorders are more likely to develop negative coping strategies during periods of stress and adversity, which can impact their quality of life and relationships.

There’s no shortage of specific research questions in this category. Here are some examples of research questions about personality disorders that you could explore:

What environments are more likely to trigger the development of a personality disorder?

What barriers impact access to care for people with personality disorders?

To what extent does undiagnosed borderline personality disorder impact a person’s ability to build relationships?

How does group therapy impact symptom severity in people with schizotypal personality disorder?

What is the treatment compliance rate of people with paranoid personality disorder?

• Research questions about substance use disorders

“Substance use disorders” is a blanket term for treatable behaviors and patterns within a person’s brain that lead them to become dependent on illicit drugs, alcohol, or prescription medications. It’s one of the most stigmatized mental health categories.

The severity of a person’s symptoms and how they impact their ability to participate in their regular daily life can vary significantly from person to person. But, even in less severe cases, people with a substance use disorder display some level of loss of control due to their need to use the substance they are dependent on.

This is an ever-evolving topic where research is in hot demand. Here are some example research questions:

To what extent do meditation practices help with craving management?

How effective are detox centers in treating acute substance use disorder?

Are there genetic factors that increase a person’s chances of developing a substance use disorder?

How prevalent are substance use disorders in immigrant populations?

To what extent do prescription medications play a role in developing substance use disorders?

• Research questions about mental health treatments

Treatments for mental health, pharmaceutical therapies in particular, are a common topic for research and exploration in this space.

Besides the clinical trials required for a drug to receive FDA approval, studies into the efficacy, risks, and patient experiences are essential to better understand mental health therapies.

These types of studies can easily become large in scope, but it’s possible to conduct small cohort research on mental health therapies that can provide helpful insights into the actual experiences of the people receiving these treatments.

Here are some questions you might consider:

What are the long-term effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for patients with severe depression?

How common is insomnia as a side effect of oral mental health medications?

What are the most common causes of non-compliance for mental health treatments?

How long does it take for patients to report noticeable changes in symptom severity after starting injectable mental health medications?

What issues are most common when weaning a patient off of an anxiety medication?

• Controversial mental health research questions

If you’re interested in exploring more cutting-edge research topics, you might consider one that’s “controversial.”

Depending on your own personal values, you might not think many of these topics are controversial. In the context of the research environment, this depends on the perspectives of your project lead and the desires of your sponsors. These topics may not align with the preferred subject matter.

That being said, that doesn’t make them any less worth exploring. In many cases, it makes them more worthwhile, as they encourage people to ask questions and think critically.

Here are just a few examples of “controversial” mental health research questions:

To what extent do financial crises impact mental health in young adults?

How have climate concerns impacted anxiety levels in young adults?

To what extent do psychotropic drugs help patients struggling with anxiety and depression?

To what extent does political reform impact the mental health of LGBTQ+ people?

What mental health supports should be available for the families of people who opt for medically assisted dying?

• Research questions about socioeconomic factors & mental health

Socioeconomic factors—like where a person grew up, their annual income, the communities they are exposed to, and the amount, type, and quality of mental health resources they have access to—significantly impact overall health.

This is a complex and multifaceted issue. Choosing a research question that addresses these topics can help researchers, experts, and policymakers provide more equitable and accessible care over time.

Examples of questions that tackle socioeconomic factors and mental health include the following:

How does sliding scale pricing for therapy increase retention rates?

What is the average cost to access acute mental health crisis care in [a specific region]?

To what extent does a person’s environment impact their risk of developing a mental health condition?

How does mental health stigma impact early detection of mental health conditions?

To what extent does discrimination affect the mental health of LGBTQ+ people?

• Research questions about the benefits of therapy

Therapy, whether that’s in groups or one-to-one sessions, is one of the most commonly utilized resources for managing mental health conditions. It can help support long-term healing and the development of coping mechanisms.

Yet, despite its popularity, more research is needed to properly understand its benefits and limitations.

Here are some therapy-based questions you could consider to inspire your own research:

In what instances does group therapy benefit people more than solo sessions?

How effective is cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with severe anxiety?

After how many therapy sessions do people report feeling a better sense of self?

Does including meditation reminders during therapy improve patient outcomes?

To what extent has virtual therapy improved access to mental health resources in rural areas?

• Research questions about mental health trends in teens

Adolescents are a particularly interesting group for mental health research due to the prevalence of early-onset mental health symptoms in this age group.

As a time of self-discovery and change, puberty brings plenty of stress, anxiety, and hardships, all of which can contribute to worsening mental health symptoms.

If you’re looking to learn more about how to support this age group with mental health, here are some examples of questions you could explore:

Does parenting style impact anxiety rates in teens?

How early should teenagers receive mental health treatment?

To what extent does cyberbullying impact adolescent mental health?

What are the most common harmful coping mechanisms explored by teens?

How have smartphones affected teenagers’ self-worth and sense of self?

• Research questions about social media and mental health

Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) have significantly impacted day-to-day communication. However, despite their numerous benefits and uses, they have also become a significant source of stress, anxiety, and self-worth issues for those who use them.

These platforms have been around for a while now, but research on their impact is still in its infancy. Are you interested in building knowledge about this ever-changing topic? Here are some examples of social media research questions you could consider:

To what extent does TikTok’s mental health content impact people’s perception of their health?

How much non-professional mental health content is created on social media platforms?

How has social media content increased the likelihood of a teen self-identifying themselves with ADHD or autism?

To what extent do social media photoshopped images impact body image and self-worth?

Has social media access increased feelings of anxiety and dread in young adults?

• Mental health research is incredibly important

As you have seen, there are so many unique mental health research questions worth exploring. Which options are piquing your interest?

Whether you are a university student considering your next paper topic or a professional looking to explore a new area of study, mental health is an exciting and ever-changing area of research to get involved with.

Your research will be valuable, no matter how big or small. As a niche area of healthcare still shrouded in stigma, any insights you gain into new ways to support, treat, or identify mental health triggers and trends are a net positive for millions of people worldwide.

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The Brain and Common Psychiatric Disorders

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

As the biological seat of mental life, the brain is center stage in the investigation of what causes and characterizes mental disorders.

The roots of the various conditions defined by the medical field of psychiatry—such as major depression, schizophrenia, or generalized anxiety disorder—are still not well understood. Further, individuals who share a psychiatric diagnosis do not necessarily have identical conditions —they may have some symptoms in common but not others. It would be too simple to describe a uniform “depressed brain” or “schizophrenic brain.”

But clinical neuroscientists have been able to uncover ways in which the brains of individuals diagnosed with such conditions tend to differ from the norm, on average. As examples of neuroscientific findings linked to some of these diagnoses show, particular aspects of brain structure and (dys)function appear to be especially relevant to certain forms of mental illness.

On This Page

• Are psychiatric disorders brain diseases?
• Depression and the Brain
• Anxiety Disorders and the Brain
• Addiction and the Brain
• Schizophrenia and the Brain
• Autism and the Brain
• Are some brain differences related to more than one disorder?

Psychiatric disorders are disorders of the brain in the sense that the dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors they involve are enabled by the brain—as all thoughts and behaviors are. And neuroscientists examining the structure and function of particular parts of the brain have found various differences, on average, between people who have psychiatric diagnoses and those who do not.

However, the fact that particular brain abnormalities are associated with these disorders does not necessarily mean that they cause the development of the disorders. In the case of conditions such as stroke or Huntington’s disease—which are largely treated by neurologists and other professionals outside of psychiatry—the biological progression of the condition is relatively well understood. Given a current lack of understanding of the biological roots of psychiatric disorders, the absence of clear biomarkers for diagnosis, and other reasons, some question the idea that they should be called brain diseases.

Importantly, the factors underlying mental health disorders extend beyond innate differences between the brains of people with and without disorders. These may include external sources of stress as well as additional biological causes such as the composition of the microbiome in the digestive system.

Studies of individuals with major depressive disorder have identified lower gray matter volume in a number of brain areas relative to those without depression. These include parts of the prefrontal cortex (important for decision-making and cognitive control), the hippocampus, the anterior cingulate cortex, and others. There is also evidence of a higher degree of folding in the cortex in certain areas and lower white matter integrity in others.

People with depression have also shown functional brain differences in studies, such as reduced activation in a brain area called the striatum when anticipating or receiving a reward. Other research has reported atypical connectivity between some brain structures and levels of activity in brain networks called the fronto-limbic network and the default mode network (active when the brain is disengaged from activities or stimulation).

Widely used antidepressant medications boost the presence of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, and the role of such chemicals in depression has long been of interest. But depression is not believed to be caused simply by low levels of serotonin. Medications targeted to the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine may also help alleviate depression, and reduced levels of the neurotransmitter GABA have been reported in patients with depression.

Other research on the biology of depression focuses on the potential roles of inflammation and makeup of the microbiome in the digestive system in the development of the condition.

For more, see The Biology of Depression.

The amygdala, which is centrally involved in the brain’s response to threats, is thought to play an important role in anxiety. So are other major components of the limbic system, the hippocampus (critical for memory and fear learning) and the hypothalamus (which controls the release of hormones).

Increased activation of the amygdala, and an area that receives input from the amygdala (the insular cortex), has been found in a number of anxiety disorders. And in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), research suggests that areas of the brain that inhibit the activity of the amygdala (such as the ventral medial prefrontal cortex) are themselves less active. Neuroimaging studies vary, however, in terms of whether structures considered abnormal in anxiety disorders, such as the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, show increased or decreased activity—which may be due to the use of different experimental tasks and other variables.

Multiple neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine, serotonin, glutamate, and GABA, appear to have a part in anxiety disorders, but not necessarily in straightforward ways. For example, increased activation of the serotonin system may promote or dampen anxiety, depending on the part of the brain where it happens. Meanwhile, a high level of activity in the norepinephrine system has been linked to some anxiety disorders.

For more, see The Biology of Anxiety.

With repeated use of pleasure-inducing drugs, the patterns of use become reinforced through changes in the brain. The neurotransmitter dopamine, which is involved in the reinforcement of behaviors more generally, is thought to play an important part in the development of addiction. Research has found that most addictive drugs can cause sudden surges of dopamine in a brain area called the nucleus accumbens. With recurring surges of dopamine due to drug use, the brain is encouraged to repeat the pleasurable behavior (and to associate it with related cues in the environment), and it becomes more automatic.

Over time, habitual substance use can alter the brain’s reward circuit in ways that make it less sensitive to the drug, inducing the user to seek increasing amounts in order to experience the same sense of reward. These alterations include reductions in the amount of neurotransmitters produced and the number of receptors for those chemicals.

Researchers have observed lower activity, among those who abuse alcohol, cocaine, and other substances, in brain areas involved in inhibition and emotion control: the orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Abnormal dopamine function connected to these regions could help explain key aspects of addiction such as reduced control over drug-seeking behavior.

For more, see the Addiction Center.

In individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, researchers have observed reduced volume in certain parts of the brain—including gray matter overall—as well as increased size of the fluid-filled spaces called ventricles.

Studies of brain activity have found relatively low activation of the frontal lobes as participants with schizophrenia engage in cognitive tasks, as well as abnormalities in the function of the amygdala, the temporoparietal junction, and other parts of the brain. More broadly, studies suggest that schizophrenia is related to atypical levels of functional connectivity between multiple brain regions.

Dopamine has long been linked to schizophrenia: drugs that reduce the transmission of the molecule in the brain also reduce psychotic symptoms, and researchers have found evidence of heightened dopamine function in people with schizophrenia. But abnormalities in the function of other neurotransmitters, including GABA and glutamate, have also been suggested by research.

The autism spectrum includes a broad collection of symptoms that individuals show to varying degrees, and particular brain characteristics that have been identified may appear only in subgroups of those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). For example, a minority (estimated at about 15 percent) of children diagnosed with autism show markedly enlarged cranial circumference, indicative of increased brain volume. And research on brain volume in people with autism and others suggests enlarged volume in early childhood as well as atypical decline in brain volume in adulthood among a portion of those with autism.

Studies have also explored brain function related to particular kinds of cognitive and behavioral differences involved in autism spectrum disorders, such as difficulties related to social functioning. In participants with “high-functioning” autism, for instance, neuroscientists have reported atypical patterns of activation in certain brain areas (such as the amygdala) in response to emotional faces, as well as reduced activation in areas thought to be related to “theory of mind” when prompted to interpret the behavior of animated shapes. Brain networks involved in social processing also appear to have atypical patterns of connectivity in people with autism.

Atypical brain activation and functional connectivity have also been observed in areas related to language processing and executive functioning in individuals with autism. And abnormal volumes in some structures beneath the cerebral cortex, such as the basal ganglia, may be linked to repetitive behaviors in autism.

While scientists commonly link brain characteristics to specific disorders, some aspects of brain structure and function appear related to a variety of conditions. This may reflect overlap in the characteristics and symptoms of different psychiatric disorder categories.

For example, elevated activity in parts of the brain key to emotional processing and diminished activity in parts of the frontal lobe have been linked to multiple conditions, including anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. And a recent analysis found evidence of neural commonalities among those with mood disorders and anxiety disorders : similarly, lower activity in a brain circuit related to cognitive control and higher activity in some emotion-related areas such as the amygdala. Mood and anxiety disorders are diagnosed separately but frequently co-occur and have shared features.

Characteristics of the brain’s wiring also appears to be related to risk for mental illness across diagnostic categories. An analysis of white-matter pathways (which connect different areas of the brain) found that a specific pattern involving two such pathways was associated with measures of psychopathology in adolescents—suggesting that structural connectivity is related to multiple conditions.

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“It’s about how you take in things with your brain” - young people’s perspectives on mental health and help seeking: an interview study

• Mikael B. Andersén 1 , 2 ,
• Åsa Revenäs 3 , 4 , 5 ,
• Petra V. Lostelius 3 , 4 , 6 ,
• Erik M. G. Olsson 1 ,
• Annika Bring 1 &
• Lena Ring 1 , 2  

BMC Public Health volume  24 , Article number:  1095 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Introduction

Poor mental health in young people has become a growing problem globally over the past decades. However, young people have also been shown to underutilize available healthcare resources. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has formulated guidelines for youth-friendly health services (YFHSs) to increase youth participation in healthcare. Still, little is known about how young people using these services perceive mental health, indicating a knowledge gap concerning the subjective evaluation of their mental health.

To investigate how young people visiting youth health clinics (YHC) perceive the concept of mental health and factors they view as central to maintaining mental health.

In total 21 interviews were carried out, 16 in 2018, and 5 in 2023 to assure no changes in findings after the COVID-19 pandemic. Subjects were recruited during visits to youth health clinics (YHCs) in mid-Sweden and were aged 15–23 years. Recruitment strived to achieve heterogeneity in the sample concerning gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and age. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Findings of the analysis revealed two themes, “Mental health is helped and hindered by the surroundings” and “Mental health is difficult to understand and difficult to achieve”. The participants described their health as highly dependent on their social surroundings, and that these are important to maintaining health but may also affect health negatively. They described mixed experiences of the health care services and mentioned prerequisites for seeking care for mental health problems such as accessibility and respect for their integrity, including the right to turn down offered treatment. The informants also viewed mental health as an ongoing undertaking that one must work for, and that it is sometimes difficult to know what constitutes mental health. They also expressed a need from healthcare services to enquire about their health, and to show an active interest in how they are doing.

Conclusions

Findings underline the need of young people’s individual needs to be met in the healthcare system and their vulnerability to their social surroundings. Health status assessments in young people should consider social and individual factors to fully capture mental health.

Peer Review reports

Adolescence and young adulthood is a pivotal time of development in a young person’s life [ 1 , 2 ]. During this period, young people go through major biological and cognitive changes as well as forming their identities both within themselves and in their social surroundings [ 3 ], and studies show that young people are particularly susceptible to social stimuli as well as prone to risk taking [ 4 ]. Although young people are generally healthy, the past decades have seen an increase in mental health problems in this age group [ 1 , 5 , 6 ]. It has also been shown that mental health issues often start during adolescence and young adulthood and then persist through the lifespan [ 7 , 8 ]. Studies have shown increased incidence of clinical diagnoses such as depression and anxiety [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], as well as sub-clinical symptoms e.g. stress [ 12 ]. This trend in increasing mental health problems is particularly worrying, since studies have also found that poor mental health during childhood and adolescence is a predictor of negative outcomes in adulthood, such as poor educational attainment, unemployment, and future mental health problems [ 13 , 14 ]. In contrast to this, young people also tend to underutilize available traditional healthcare services, since they are perceived as not meeting young people’s specific needs, such as a feeling of trust and mutual respect with care staff, high levels of confidentiality and help managing the perceived stigma of poor mental health [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. This entails a risk of them not receiving adequate treatment for their mental health problems.

To be able to cater to the needs of adolescents and young adults, the World Health Organization (WHO) established guidelines for youth-friendly health services (YFHS) in 2012 [ 18 ], sometimes also referred to as adolescent-friendly health services. These guidelines may be formulated as eight standards [ 19 ] that in turn may be summarised in five domains: YFHSs are accessible, acceptable, equitable, appropriate, and effective [ 18 , 20 ]. YFHSs may provide all types of care but are often tasked predominantly with providing care and advice for sexual health as well as mental health, but the focus of different clinics and service providers differ. The guidelines for YHFSs have been applied to health services to varying degrees in different nations [ 21 , 22 ], but often on a limited project basis. Few countries have well-established structures for YFHS in place permanently.

In Sweden, there has been a system of youth health clinics (YHC) in place since the 1970’s. These clinics mostly seem to meet WHOs criteria for YFHSs [ 20 , 23 ], although some domains, e.g. accessibility, vary between clinics. The clinics provide free sexual and mental health care for patients aged 12–25 years and are present in all regions of Sweden [ 24 ]. Young people may seek out the YHCs specifically for help with mental health issues, but it is also common that young people initially contact the YHCs primarily seeking other services, foremost for sexual health issues. While at the clinic other health issues e.g. poor mental health might be identified [ 24 ]. The YHCs have a stated aim of low-threshold, preventative care [ 24 ]). Studies have also found that young people using the YHCs perceive them as youth-friendly and welcoming [ 25 ], although other studies have found that young people from a non-Swedish cultural background find these clinics less accessible and less suited to their needs [ 26 ].

YHCs can play a crucial role in early detection and treatment of poor mental health, by providing accessible and available care as well as ensuring confidentiality, privacy, being non-judgmental and having an inclusive approach [ 18 ]. To ensure that adolescent voices are at the centre of decision-making processes for their mental health it is important to understand what mental health, both good and poor, means to them [ 27 ]. Some studies have explored how young people perceive health in general [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], with findings including the important role played by responsible adults surrounding young people [ 27 ]. Findings also show the central importance of mental health in relation to young people’s perceptions of their overall health, with physical health described in a study of 15-years old boys as “subordinate” [ 29 ]. Studies have also explored young people’s perceptions of mental health specifically [ 31 ], but no such studies have, to our knowledge, focused on patients at YFHCs specifically, and it cannot be ruled out that young people using the YHCs have unique health perceptions or healthcare needs. The aim of the present study was to investigate how young people visiting YHCs perceive the concept of mental health and factors they view as central to maintaining mental health.

Study design

This exploratory study has an inductive qualitative content analysis design according to Graneheim and Lundman [ 32 , 33 ]. The study is approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority, registration number 2021–04440. According to Swedish law, parental consent is only needed for children under 15 years of age [ 34 ].

Settings and participants

Participants for the interviews were recruited during visits to six different YHCs in three different counties in central Sweden. Inclusion criteria were being at least 15 years of age and attending an appointment at one of the YHCs where recruitment took place. Exclusion criteria were not being able to understand written and spoken Swedish. Participants were aged between 15 and 22 years of age, and included 16 people identifying as female, 3 people identifying as male and 2 with other gender identities (see Table  1 for details).

Participants also included people from different backgrounds. 10 participants reported cohabiting with both parents, 5 participants lived with one parent and the remaining 6 lived either with partners, siblings, in foster care or alone. Participants had different levels of education, with the youngest participants still in secondary school, while some of the older participants were at university. Participating YHCs were located in cities, towns and in rural locations, which was also reflected in participants having both urban and rural backgrounds. Purposive sampling using a stratified approach was used [ 35 ] in order to recruit a heterogeneous group of participants concerning gender, gender identity, sexuality, cultural background and age as well as recruitment locations in order to represent young people visiting YHCs. A heterogeneous group of participants was sought in order to reflect the health perceptions of the diverse group of young people attending the YHCs. This group varies in age, background, social circumstances and health. This was of importance also because studies show that the YHCs are deemed less youth friendly by minority groups [ 26 ]. Recruitment was carried out among patients seeking treatment at the YHCs for a range of reasons, with most participants recruited either at a visit with a midwife or a social worker. This was done to make sure that patients seeking for a range of issues including mental health issues directly or indirectly, were included.

Young people who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and who showed interest in the study were given written and verbal information concerning the study by the staff at the YHC. The same staff also collected the young people’s contact information. They were then contacted by a member of the research group who further informed about the study and the larger research project, tasked with the development of an electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO), an instrument for measuring the health of patients to be used in YHCs, with the possibility to ask questions. Upon agreeing to participate, an appointment was booked for an interview. Interviews were held at the YHCs which they had visited or at nearby hospital facilities. None of the participants had any prior relationship with the interviewers and all were informed that the interviewers were researchers in the research project.

Data collection

Interviews were carried out between June and November 2018 and during March 2023. Inclusion in 2023 was done to capture a wider range of health perceptions, since perception following the COVID-19 pandemic might have shifted. Interviews were continued until the research group agreed that further interviews seemed to lead to no new information, and when the interviews carried out in 2023 resulted in no new subcategories in the analysis, data collection was terminated. At the start of the interview, participants received written information concerning the study and written informed consent forms which were signed prior to commencing the interviews. A semi-structured interview guide was used for the interviews, which were carried out by two of the authors (MA, PLV), one of whom is a male psychologist, and the other a female physiotherapist, both of whom were PhD students at the time and both of whom have extensive clinical experience with young patients. Only the interviewer and the participant was present during the interview, and only one interview was carried out with each participant. The interviews focused on the participants’ view of mental health, how they perceive mental health, how they take care of their mental health and how they would prefer to be approached in order to talk about their health. The interview also included questions about physical and sexual health, as well as questions concerning preferences in the development of an ePRO for use at YHCs (the analysis of which has been published [ 36 ]), see Appendix 1 for the full interview guide. The interviews varied in length between 20 and 60 min and were recorded digitally and later transcribed verbatim by MA and hired administrative staff. No notes were taken during the recording.

Data analyses

Inductive content analysis [ 32 , 33 ] was used to analyse the transcribed interviews. The interviews were repeatedly read through and compared to recordings. Three separate interviews chosen at random were then independently split into meaning units relevant to the research question and coded by two of the authors (MA and ÅR) to check for consistency in coding. After having reached consensus concerning codes, one author coded the remaining interviews (MA). MA and ÅR then sorted codes from two more interviews, again chosen at random, into themes, categories and subcategories collaboratively, after which MA sorted codes from the remaining interviews with continuous feedback from ÅR. When consensus was reached between MA and ÅR, the remaining co-authors were invited to validate the analysis and to discuss themes and categories. All of the remaining authors participating in the analysis of data have long experience of health care and healthcare research (ÅR, EO, AB, LR) and specifically qualitative research (ÅR, AB, LR). The abstraction process was deemed to be complete when consensus between all researchers had been achieved. An example of the abstraction process from meaning unit to theme can be found in Table  2 .

Analysis of the data resulted in two themes, “Mental health is helped and hindered by the surroundings” and “Mental health is difficult to understand and difficult to achieve”. These, in turn, are divided into five different categories and numerous subcategories, see Table  3 for details.

Theme 1: mental health is helped and hindered by the surroundings

The participants expressed that their social surroundings played a central role in their mental health. Their social surroundings appeared to be the arena in which their mental health primarily played out. However, the social surroundings could both facilitate and help with mental health status as well as cause tremendous distress, which led to vulnerability and lack of control. The participants also appeared to be highly aware of the healthcare system as a place to go for help when it came to mental health, but experiences of accessing it for treatment varied, and certain prerequisites needed to be met in order for young people to feel that they could make use of the health services provided. This theme consists of 3 categories.

Category: social influences

The social environments of the participants were of huge importance to the mental health of young people according to the interview data. It was however clear that all of these different institutions may have both a positive and a negative effect on mental health. The family as a support structure, for example, was by some felt to be generally positive, with one participant explaining that mental health is achieved through “getting to be with my family and spending time, like” (IP 11). Others, however, had a largely negative experience of turning to their family members for support concerning mental health, because “you feel like ‘Oh no, now I’m going to let my parents down’, and that’s a big issue” (IP 7). Similarly, friends and partners could be both good and bad support, and many felt that the most natural place to go when it came to mental health was peers, while others expressed that “the most important thing is your company… I think the worst things happen there, actually” (IP 13).

In the interviews, young people expressed that school was both considered important, but also their biggest cause of stress. School was also mentioned as an important place for outreach to young people and a good place to notice poor mental health, while at the same time being perceived as not being very good at doing it. School health services, for example, were perceived as a valuable possible resource, but as IP 6 put it: “I’m thinking that we’ve done check-ups with the school nurses, and they don’t talk so much about mental health. They focus mostly on physical health. We could use some more there”.

Similarly, the young people interviewed also viewed different societal institutions, such as the social services, different religious institutions, and non-government organisations as both helpful and as a hindrance to achieve and maintain mental health. Particularly the social services were viewed negatively, and their involvement was said to have a negative impact on mental health. It was also mentioned that the responsibility for helping young people lay not with specific institutions, but rather with society as a whole. In the interviews, it was mentioned that it would be helpful if the topic of mental health was more broadly discussed in general in order to aid youth people with their mental health problems, for example “… so for my part I think the healthcare system in itself will have a hard time figuring out why we’re feeling so bad, it’s more a question for society, in general, I should think.” (IP 14).

The internet was mentioned as a supportive resource for support and information, particularly for LGBTQIA + youth, but also as a potential problem for young people as some online arenas tend to encourage poor health rather than help with feeling better, as attested by IP 8: “You just search for something, and you just get on to something, like… Now I’m going onto [a site about] eating disorders again, but people are just writing ‘does anyone want to be my friend so that we can help each other starve’ and stuff”.

Finally, the interview material also seemed to indicate that while social support was seen as contributing to both good and bad mental health, not being lonely was perceived as particularly important. The young people who were interviewed felt loneliness was to be avoided in order to stay healthy, and a common action taken to take care of mental health was to make sure to spend time with other people. When asked what gives poor mental health, IP 10 says ”not being involved in your own life, not getting a social life”, while IP 7 added that “when I’ve felt that I’ve got support, then I’ve, like, it [mental health] hasn’t been a hindrance in my life”.

Category: the healthcare system and its function

The participants in the interviews viewed the healthcare system as important to their mental health needs, although opinions were split on the degree to which the current healthcare system meets their needs as it is currently structured. The healthcare system also had other important functions, apart from administering healthcare, such as conferring legitimacy to your experience when you feel bad and asking young people how they are feeling.

In the analyses, it was clear that some participants felt helped by the healthcare system, while others did not. To illustrate the divide, IP 5, in response to a question concerning what they would do if they needed help with mental health issues, responded “Then I’d probably look for help via the youth health clinic and look for some sort of psychologist or social worker”, while IP 17, who mentioned having had long experience of the psychiatric services, stated “Like, I’m going to be completely honest, I think the healthcare system here in [town] is really sucky when it comes to mental health”. Specific complaints directed at the general health services also included long waiting times to get help and lack of knowledge in LGBTQIA+-relevant issues, whiles the YHCs were viewed more favourably. It was also mentioned that staff in the healthcare services have good intentions but are not able to reach positive results in treatment.

A separate function fulfilled by the healthcare system was that of adding legitimacy to experiences of poor health. The young people interviewed mentioned feeling validated in feeling sick when the healthcare services reacted, making receiving care from the healthcare system a way of defining what constitutes ill health as opposed to just feeling bad. Attention from the healthcare system could also lead to taking your problems more seriously. Unfortunately, this also means that long waiting times within the system led to feelings of insecurity, with one person interviewed expressing that ”if you don’t even know, you can’t even be certain if I really have these problems or if it’s something that I’ve had for a long time that’s just been imagined” (IP2).

In the interviews, it was also mentioned that young people rarely volunteer to adults in general, or the healthcare system in particular, that they are suffering from poor mental health. Young people said they needed healthcare staff to ask how they’re feeling to be able to open up about their healthcare needs. This was presented as a necessity for accessing help. In the interviews, it was clear that being asked about how you were feeling may cause young people to stop and think about how they’re doing, with one saying that “a general question, ‘how are you feeling’, like, is a good start to a conversation… Because then maybe that gets you thinking, how am I doing today, and how have I been feeling recently?” (IP 9). There was, however, no consensus about what questions to ask or how to ask them, even though young people seemed positive to being asked questions about serious signs of poor mental health, and of suicidal ideation and self-harm specifically.

Category: what is needed to be able to get help

From the interview data, it was clear that participants felt the need for certain prerequisites to facilitate their help-seeking from the healthcare system, but also that there were certain obstacles to seeking help that needed to be surpassed. Several factors that were perceived either to make contact easier, or to be necessary to be able to seek help, were brought up, as well as pitfalls to opening up about mental health issues.

In the interviews, it was expressed that what others think about mental health may result in feelings such as guilt, shame and anxiety that are difficult to handle when it comes to help-seeking, and that may form a significant barrier to help-seeking. IP 15 said that ”I always say I’m feeling fine even though I’m not” due to complicated feelings around other people knowing that they were not doing well. Some went so far as to put specific words to the feelings, for example ”… maybe they don’t want to say so themselves, but they know… they don’t really want to tell anyone else because they feel the shame is too great and so on” (IP 10).

To facilitate help-seeking that may feel difficult, participants expressed specific needs to be able to seek help. They reported a need to meet a real person and to feel safe during visits within healthcare, which entails a need for staff members that give a positive, accepting impression to the patients. Sometimes this meant a face-to-face, personal appointment with a member of staff who could “show that, oh my God, this person actually cares about how I’m feeling, that can really be worth a lot” (IP 4). Some, however, expressed a preference for digital appointments, since that felt safer. Emphasis in the interviews was also placed on getting to choose for yourself how and when to receive care and on the importance of integrity concerning young people’s healthcare choices. This included being able to access healthcare without parents or other adults necessarily finding out about this. In IP 15s words: “I know there’s secrecy and all that but preferably it should say somewhere that ‘this will not be shown to anyone else’ because then you feel even safer because you don’t want everyone to know about your life in that way.”

Participants interviewed also expressed that it should not be difficult to get help from healthcare services. This included booking appointments that fit with their schedules and convenient locations for the clinics. They also expressed that talking to someone about their mental health should feel easy and not like a “big deal”, “So that you should feel like it’s easy, like, ‘I’ve got someone to talk to there” (IP 9). They also mentioned a need to get adequate information concerning their healthcare choices, as expressed by IP 2: “And that’s the thing, concerning that you want your information to get out, then it has to be so broad that it gets out there… And via schools too, schools play an important role to… Like get [the information] to where the kids are.”

Finally, participants in the interviews expressed that they are different individuals with different needs, which they required that the healthcare system take into account. They expressed varying preferences when it came to help-seeking, and LGBTQIA + youth in particular felt that the healthcare services were inadequate for their needs. It was often emphasised that mental health means different things to different people, and that diagnostic labels may be unhelpfully narrow. According to IP 21, “…it’s important [for staff] to be pretty open, not to jump to conclusions, since everyone has different experiences and come with different baggage, like…”. It was clear that young people in the interviews had a high need of feeling understood by their surroundings in order to be able to ask for help.

Theme 2: mental health is difficult to understand and difficult to achieve

Mental health is a complicated subject, something which was apparent to the young people interviewed in the present study. Mental health was often, by the participants, perceived as something unstable, a goal that one had to constantly work hard at without necessarily knowing what it was one had to do. It was also something that participants had a hard time defining. This theme is split into 2 categories.

Category: how good and bad mental health works

Participants in the interviews sometimes struggled to define what they meant by mental health but could at other times be quite specific about what good and bad mental health was. Mental health was also hard to communicate about and was connected to both physical health and social circumstances.

The interviews contained comments that illustrated that feeling good and bad could mean lots of different things. Poor mental health was expressed to be equated with or caused by inner states like feeling stressed, anxious, depressed and having low self-esteem while good mental health was associated with happiness and the absence of sadness, and also concerned with how you handle situations. Mental health, in fact, was “about, like, how you take in things with your brain” (IP 9). Comments on mental health being difficult to define were common, while specific factors such as time of day or year were thought to influence mental health. They described that different kinds of health depended on each other, with IP 5, for example, saying that she “… can get, if I’m not feeling good mentally, I’ll feel it physically as well… I don’t get headaches, like, but I usually tense up quite a lot, in my stomach, I think, and in the body, I get pretty tense…”. They were clear, however, that mental health was the main problem facing young people, and that it constituted their major health concern, with one subject saying “Stress. Anxiety. Worry. Yes, amongst other things, there’s some other stuff as well, but that’s the most fundamental thing in society today” (IP 13). When asked about “health” in general, some reverted to talking only about mental health.

Young people described in the interviews that it was hard to know and show how you’re feeling. The difficulty lay both in knowing your mental state, but also in conveying to others how you were feeling. This difficulty was caused by different people having different interpretations of mental health, but also by the fact that you couldn’t necessarily tell how someone was feeling from the outside. IP 14 stated that “… I know myself what it’s like, maybe you don’t want to seem to be feeling better than you actually are, but you can get, like ‘There’s always someone worse off than you are’”, which also highlights the risk of being misunderstood or having your suffering diminished by others.

Finally, participants reported knowing how they were feeling depending on how they were doing socially. Being able to perform in social situations, such as your family context, amongst friends and in school, was part of the definition of having mental health. IP 18 explained, concerning how to know that they are suffering mentally, that “… I become more withdrawn from those close to me than, like, I keep a bit more to myself and stuff, and don’t do as much stuff as before”. Hence, someone not interacting with peers or not performing in school was a way of knowing that they were not feeling well mentally.

Category: being able to manage your health

Young people in the interviews seemed to perceive taking care of your mental health as an ongoing undertaking, where you continuously had to act in order to stay healthy. Mental health was also seen as an important part of your identity.

When young people in the interviews talked about taking care of themselves, they often mentioned doing things like meeting and talking to friends or exercising, but many other activities were also mentioned. One went so far as to say that “… I want to try to avoid the words ‘health, sick’, because I think health is something you do and not something you are” (IP 10). Having mental health was perceived as an ongoing project. It was also clear that staying healthy was something you could learn to get better at. Particularly participants who have experience of poor mental health said that how they were feeling was a part of their identity, and that feeling good could feel frightening. This is expressed by IP 8 as follows: “If you’ve felt bad for such a long time then you don’t dare feel good again, because that can then disappear. In that case you’d rather feel bad all the time”.

This interview study gives many insights into how young people visiting YHCs perceive the concept of mental health and how they try to achieve it. From the inductive analysis of the interviews, two themes emerged; (1) Mental health is helped and hindered by the surroundings and (2) Mental health is difficult to understand and difficult to achieve. Both themes indicated uncertainty in having mental health from a young person’s point of view. Theme 1 shows that mental health is perceived as heavily influenced by social surroundings, which are often outside one’s control, while Theme 2 shows that mental health entails hard, continuous work, even though one might not know what the end goal is. Taken together, this entails that young people may find conversations about mental health intimidating, while at the same time expressing a need to be asked how they’re doing in order to be able to talk about how they are feeling. At the same time, young people interviewed underline that they need adults in general, and health care professionals in particular, to ask about their mental health, as they will not give this information without prompting. These insights should be kept in mind when approaching young people concerning mental health.

The centrality of the social surroundings for young people’s mental health is in the present study brought to the forefront. The potential positive and negative impact of friends, family, and schooling is at the core of how young people describe health. This is echoed in some previous findings concerning how young people perceive health generally and mental health particularly [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], but is further emphasised in the present material. These findings also mirror findings concerning the importance of peers and family to mental health in young people [ 37 , 38 ], and are also in tune with the centrality of social stimuli to the adolescent developmental phase [ 3 , 4 ]. The findings in the present study also show that the young people interviewed are aware of the connection between social circumstances and mental health. This, in turn, holds important implications for both assessments of how young people are feeling, which may achieve increased accuracy by including a social perspective, and treatment of poor mental health. It also implies that mental health should be an important focus for school health services, a suggestion that is brought up in the interviews. However, it is, as stated above, important to keep in mind that young people may feel uncomfortable discussing how social circumstances affect their health, and the circumstances of the individual need to be taken into account.

The need for an individualised, person-centred approach for young people in the healthcare system is also brought up as a prerequisite for young people being able to, or rather being motivated to, access healthcare. Person-centred healthcare in adult patient populations has been found to increase self-efficacy and satisfaction with care [ 39 ], amongst other findings, and is also a government priority in Sweden [ 40 ]. That the young people interviewed in the present study clearly state a need for a person-centred approach underlines the need for further effort from the YHCs specifically, but the healthcare establishment in general, to expand research and healthcare efforts towards person-centred care for this particular group.

Several of the criteria in the guidelines set up by the WHO for YFHSs [ 18 , 20 ], particularly the criteria of accessibility (free healthcare and flexible hours/modalities for contact), acceptability (individualised care, trust and safety, right to secrecy) and appropriateness (seeing the whole individual), are also highlighted as particularly important for healthcare services to attract patients. On one hand this seems reasonable, since the young people interviewed were all patients at YHCs, clinics that seem to approximate the YFHS guidelines. Previous studies have also shown that YHCs are perceived as youth-friendly by young people [ 23 , 25 ]. However, in [ 25 ], for example, the semi-structured interview guides were based on the central domains of YFHS, while the present study had a more general aim and structure of the interview guide. The fact that naïve subjects, who are unaware of the WHO guidelines, still bring up these criteria for being able to access healthcare spontaneously may be interpreted as an indicator of the content validity of the WHO guidelines themselves.

Young people interviewed on the one hand seemed to contrast the YHCs with conventional health care, but on the other hand had uniform expectations on “health care services”. In the interviews, two questions enquired about how “health services” should approach young people. The way the term “health service” was used in the interviews can apply to all health care, including both “regular” health services, such as primary care or psychiatric care, and the YHCs. In the interviews, young people tended to separate “regular” health services and YHCs and view them as different entities in response to questions concerning “health services”. The “regular” health care services, particularly the psychiatric services, were sometimes brought up as an example of negative experiences with seeking help, despite not being the focus of the interviews, whiles the YHCs overall received positive reviews. This is not surprising since the present study used only participants who for different reasons choose to seek out the YHCs, but it is a clear indicator that “regular” health services at least by some are not viewed as “youth-friendly”. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of the guidelines to facilitate health care access for the group.

Finally, it is important to note that mental health and mental health problems to the young people interviewed seem to be the most important aspect of their health. The young people echoed findings in current research [ 1 , 5 ] and referred to mental health as the biggest health issue facing young people today. In some of the interviews “poor health” even seems to be used synonymously with “poor mental health”. Although not surprising, since young people are generally physically healthy [ 1 , 2 ], it is also worth noting that mental health, and particularly poor mental health, seems to be an important part of young people’s self-image, even to the extent that poor mental health may feel safe compared to striving to attain good mental health. Self-image has in numerous studies been found to have causal relationships with poor mental health [ 41 ], and studies have also found that young people who engage in behaviours such as non-suicidal self-injury sometimes do so to strengthen a sense of belonging to a peer group [ 42 ]. This finding may hold implications for treatment of mental health as motivation for improvement may be lacking if good mental health in itself is perceived as a frightening prospect. Further research may focus on how poor mental health forms part of how young people view themselves and if this in turn affects the recovery process.

The present study has certain limitations. The additional interviews performed in 2023 did not include any participants identifying as non-female, meaning that any possible difference in perceptions and needs between 2018 and 2023 in male and youth with other gender identities at the YHCs may not be captured in the study. While the gender distribution as well as other background factors in the present sample reflects the population who attend YHCs, findings may not be transferable to adolescents and young adults who do not seek treatment at YHCs. Also, in order to respect the YFHS guideline of a right to secrecy, no participants who would have required parental consent were recruited for the present study. This entails that the findings may not reflect the views of the very youngest people attending the YHCs.

Interviews were carried out by two separate interviewers (MA and PVL) and codes from both interviewers went into forming all categories and themes. No differences in themes or categories were found between interviewers, indicating that the results of the interviews carried out by both interviewers are substantially the same. The second interviewer read the interviews carried out by the first interviewer before performing the additional interviews which may strengthen dependability. Conversely, it may also pose a threat to dependability, since the second interviewer may have been influenced by the first set of interviews. The interview guide used for the semi-structured interviews was not pilot tested prior to the interviews, implicating a risk that the questions asked were insufficient to fulfil the stated aim of the study. However, the interview guide consistently asked participants questions in an open manner, as well as continuously asking if there was anything further they’d like to ask, which may lessen this risk. Also, while the participants in the study as stated above reflect the population at YHCs, no data was kept on who was approached by staff and asked to participate, which means there is no way for the present study to account for who refused to participate in the study or why. Finally, the participants were not shown the transcripts of the interviews. While the transcripts are verbatim from the recordings, participants have thus not had the opportunity to correct any misunderstandings arising in the interviews. Nor were participants asked to give feedback on findings from the analysis, which also entails a risk of lack of depth in the analysis.

In order to enhance trustworthiness and improve the credibility of the data analysis, both coding and analysis were validated by different members of the research group. The first author, MA, has many years of experience working as a psychologist at a YHC, which gives unique insight into the topic studied. However, this experience with working in a YHC may also entail bias concerning the patient group or how they perceive mental health. No other authors involved in the analysis process had specific experiences from YHCs, ameliorating any bias.

The present study sheds light on how young people perceive the concept of mental health and how to handle and achieve mental health, with particular emphasis being placed on the social element of mental health, on specific needs for accessing help, and on the centrality of mental health to young people. It also holds important implications for the need of focusing on person-centred and youth-friendly health care options for the age group, who may otherwise fail to receive adequate care. Society as a whole, but also specific stakeholders such as the school system, also need to focus more on mental health and enquiry concerning mental health in order to aid young people who are suffering from poor mental health in speaking of their problems. While the present study provides important insight into how young people perceive the concept of mental health and may help to improve how the healthcare services approach young people concerning their mental health, further studies drawing subjects from a non-clinical setting may expand on our knowledge of what mental health means to young people. Also, the present study has only involved young people as objects of study. By including adolescents and young people more intimately as stakeholders in research, valuable perspectives and further insights may well be acquired.

Availability of data and materials

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Abbreviations

World Health Organization

Youth-friendly Health Service

• Youth health clinic

Electronic Patient Reported Outcome

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Acknowledgements

We would like to sincerely thank all participants in the study for their invaluable contributions, as well as staff at the YHCs who facilitated the research and helped in recruitment of the study.

Open access funding provided by Uppsala University. The author(s) disclose having received funding from the following sources in support of the research, authorship and/or publication of the present study: Region Uppsala, Sweden; Region Västmanland, Sweden.

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Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Mikael B. Andersén, Erik M. G. Olsson, Annika Bring & Lena Ring

Region Uppsala, Primary Care and Health, Uppsala, Sweden

Mikael B. Andersén & Lena Ring

Centre for Clinical Research, Region Västmanland – Uppsala University, Västmanland Hospital Västerås, Västerås, Sweden

Åsa Revenäs & Petra V. Lostelius

School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden

Orthopedic clinic, Västmanland Hospital Västerås, Västerås, Sweden

Åsa Revenäs

Clinic for Pain Rehabilitation Västmanland, Region Västmanland, Västerås, Sweden

Petra V. Lostelius

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Contributions

The first and corresponding author of the study (MA) was involved in all phases of conducting the research here described and in publication of the present paper, including planning, data collection and analysis and writing of manuscript. PVL, LR, ÅR, AB and EO were all involved in planning of the study, and PVL was also involved in data collection. LR, ÅR, AB and EO were all involved in analysis of data, with ÅR making a particularly significant contribution. All authors were involved in writing and approving of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mikael B. Andersén .

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Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The study was ethically approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority, registration number 2021–04440. Study participant consent was obtained for all participants.

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The present study does not contain any detailed, personal data from any individual participants.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Andersén, M.B., Revenäs, Å., Lostelius, P.V. et al. “It’s about how you take in things with your brain” - young people’s perspectives on mental health and help seeking: an interview study. BMC Public Health 24 , 1095 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18617-4

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• Adolescents
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Recruitment of volunteers will be competitive. A maximum of 450 children aged 12 to 17 years inclusive will be screened in the study, of which it is planned to include and randomize 300 children who meet the criteria for inclusion in the study and do not have non-inclusion criteria, data on which will be used for subsequent safety and immunogenicity analysis.

Group 1 - 150 volunteers who will be vaccinated with the Nobivac vaccine twice with an interval of 21 days intramuscularly.

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• For girls with a history of mensis - a negative pregnancy test and consent to adhere to adequate methods of contraception (use of contraceptives within a month after the second vaccination). Girls should use methods of contraception with a reliability of more than 90% (cervical caps with spermicide, diaphragms with spermicide, condoms, intrauterine spirals).
• For young men capable of conception - consent to adhere to adequate methods of contraception (use of contraceptives within a month after the second vaccination). Young men and their sexual partners should use methods of contraception with a reliability of more than 90% (cervical caps with spermicide, diaphragms with spermicide, condoms, intrauterine spirals).

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UN Expert Warns of Mental Health Risks for Gaza Citizens From War

FILE PHOTO: Mourners react as people rebury the bodies of Palestinians killed during Israel's military offensive and buried earlier at Nasser hospital, after bodies were moved to a cemetery, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 21, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations expert on Monday warned there was a risk that mental illnesses could manifest themselves years from now among the people of Gaza due to the current conflict.

"Of course, we see the physical injury, and because it's physical, one can appreciate the severity of it," said Tlaleng Mofokeng, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to health.

"But acute mental distress that will then turn into anxiety and other kinds of mental illnesses later on in life is really, really important to start thinking intentionally about."

UNICEF said in February it estimated that 17,000 children in Gaza were unaccompanied or had been separated from their families during the conflict, and that nearly all children in the enclave were thought to require mental health support.

War in Israel and Gaza

Palestinian health authorities say more than 34,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault, which began after Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 253 to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

The Israeli assault has destroyed hospitals across the enclave, including Al Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's largest before the war, and killed and injured health workers.

Israel accuses Hamas of regularly using hospitals, ambulances and other medical facilities for military purposes.

"The health system in Gaza has been completely obliterated, and the right to health has been decimated at every level," Mofokeng said.

"The conditions are incompatible with the realization of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health."

Mofokeng said she was concerned about the risk of water and air borne diseases, and the lack of medical supplies and reproductive and mental health services in the Gaza Strip.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

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40 facts about elektrostal.

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 02 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

• Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
• With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development.

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy, with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

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Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines

Michael l. tee.

a Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Taft Avenue, Manila 1000, Philippines

b Philippine One Health University Network

Cherica A. Tee

c Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Taft Avenue, Manila 1000, Philippines

Joseph P. Anlacan

d Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Taft Avenue, Manila 1000, Philippines

Katrina Joy G. Aligam

Patrick wincy c. reyes.

e School of Statistics, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines

Vipat Kuruchittham

f South East Asia One Health University Network

Roger C. Ho

g Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge 119228, Singapore

• • Students report moderate-to-severe psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• • Timely and adequate health information has protective psychological effect.
• • Health care workers are less likely to be psychologically affected.
• • Home quarantine is associated with depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic poses a threat to societies’ mental health. This study examined the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and identified the factors contributing to psychological impact in the Philippines.

A total of 1879 completed online surveys were gathered from March 28-April 12, 2020. Collected data included socio-demographics, health status, contact history, COVID-19 knowledge and concerns, precautionary measures, information needs, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) ratings.

The IES-R mean score was 19.57 (SD=13.12) while the DASS-21 mean score was 25.94 (SD=20.59). In total, 16.3% of respondents rated the psychological impact of the outbreak as moderate-to-severe; 16.9% reported moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms; 28.8% had moderate-to-severe anxiety levels; and 13.4% had moderate-to-severe stress levels.

Female gender; youth age; single status; students; specific symptoms; recent imposed quarantine; prolonged home-stay; and reports of poor health status, unnecessary worry, concerns for family members, and discrimination were significantly associated with greater psychological impact of the pandemic and higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression ( p <0.05).

Adequate health information, having grown-up children, perception of good health status and confidence in doctors’ abilities were significantly associated with lesser psychological impact of the pandemic and lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression ( p <0.05).

Limitations

An English online survey was used.

During the early phase of the pandemic in the Philippines, one-fourth of respondents reported moderate-to-severe anxiety and one-sixth reported moderate-to-severe depression and psychological impact. The factors identified can be used to devise effective psychological support strategies.

1. Introduction

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. It may follow the influenza pandemic of 1918 in magnitude which affected about one-third of the world population and killed 50 million. To date, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, has affected 213 countries and territories around the world with 14 million cases and half a million deaths ( WHO, 2020 ). Control efforts worldwide led to travel bans and restrictions. In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon archipelago on enhanced community quarantine on March 16, 2020 ( Official Gazette, 2020 ). Curfew, check-points and travel restrictions were implemented ( PCOO, 2020 ; Yap and Jiao, 2020 ). Business and school activities were suspended indefinitely. People were forced to stay in their homes.

Previous disease outbreaks caused generalized fear to the public and induced fear-related behaviors and anxiety ( Shultz et al., 2016 ; Person et al., 2004 ). With the novel coronavirus plaguing the world, there are so many uncertainties with the disease with a possibility of a fatal outcome. There were reported manifestations of distress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia in general populations ( Wang et al., 2020a ; Wang et al., 2020b ; Rajkumar, 2020b ). The systematic review and meta-analysis done by Salari et al. (2020) among the general populations in Asia and Europe showed that the prevalence of stress was 29.6% (95% confidence interval, 24.3-35.4), anxiety was 31.9% (95% CI, 27.5-36.7) and depression was 33.7% (95% CI, 27.5-40.6).

Infection or death of family and friends could worsen the overall mental health well-being of an individual ( Ahmed et al., 2020 ). Patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 may experience fear, while those in quarantine might experience boredom, loneliness, and anger ( Xiang et al., 2020 ). Overwhelming deep emotional traumas and socio-economic stressors brought about by the pandemic and the lockdowns have even led the more vulnerable people to commit suicide ( Mamun & Griffiths, 2020 ; Mamun & Ullah, 2020 ; Miller, 2020 ; Rajkumar, 2020a ).

It is imperative to determine the prevalence of adverse mental health issues in a society during this pandemic and mitigate its psychological risks and consequences. To date, there are no studies that examine the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the general population in the Philippines. Therefore, this study aims to establish the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and identify risk and protective factors contributing to psychological stress among social media users in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2.1. Participants and procedures

From 28 March to 12 April 2020, when the entire Luzon Islands of the Philippines was under enhanced community quarantine, an online survey in English language was disseminated through the social media using snowball sampling technique. The survey included information on socio-demographics, personal symptoms, contact history, knowledge and concerns about COVID-19, precautionary measures about COVID-19, information update on COVID-19, the validated Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) instrument ( Cheung et al., 2019 ; Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995 ; Creamer et al, 2003 ).

2.2. Ethics

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the University of the Philippines Manila (UPMREB 2020-198-01).

2.3. Statistical analysis

Data analysis was performed using the SPSS Statistic 24.0 (IBM SPSS, New York, NY, USA). Frequency and percentage were applied to describe variables. The scores of IES-R and DASS-21 subscales were expressed as mean and standard deviation (SD). Association analysis using chi-square test was performed. P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

There were 2037 completed surveys out of 2700 total respondents with a completion rate of 75.4%. Excluding 158 respondents who have a pre-existing neuropsychiatric condition, a total of 1879 responses were analyzed. Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the participants. The majority were females (69%), well-educated (68.5%, at least a bachelor's degree), residents of the Philippines (96.6%), single (63.7%), employed (61.4%), non-health care professionals (67.6%), with no children (65.8%) and members of household size of 3-5 people (54.4%). The mean age of respondents was 34.5 years (SD, 13.4 years).

Demographic variables and association with psychological impact ( n =1879).

3.1. Mental health status of respondents

Respondents’ depression, anxiety and stress levels, measured using DASS-21 scale, revealed a sample mean score of 25.94 (SD =20.59). For the depression subscale, 1338 (71.2%) were considered to have a normal score (score: 0-9); 224 (11.9%) reported mild depressive symptoms (score: 10-12); 239 (12.7%) moderate depressive symptoms (scores 13-20); and 78 (4.2%) reported severe to extremely severe depressive symptoms (score: 21-42). For the anxiety subscale, 1157 (61.6%) reported normal scores (score: 0-6); 181 (9.6%) reported mild anxiety symptoms (score: 7-9); 333 (17.7%) reported moderate anxiety symptoms (score: 10-14); and 208 (11.1%) reported severe to extremely severe anxiety symptoms (scores 15-42). For the stress subscale, 1131 (60.2%) reported normal scores (score <10); 496 (26.4%) reported mild stress signals (scores 11-18); 179 (9.5%) reported moderate stress signals (scores 19-26); and 73 (3.9%) reported severe to extremely severe stress signals (scores 27-42).

The psychological impact of COVID-19 outbreak, measured using the IES-R scale, revealed a sample mean score of 19.57 (SD, 13.12). Of all respondents, 1277 (68%) reported minimal psychological impact (score: 0-23); 296 (15.8%) rated mild psychological impact (score: 24-32); and 306 (16.3%) reported a moderate to severe psychological impact (score: >33).

3.2. Sociodemographic factors and association with psychological impact

Table 1 shows that male respondents had significantly lower scores for stress ( p =0.018), anxiety ( p =0.038) and IES-R ( p =0.015) compared to females. The young age group of 12-21.4 years, single people and those who had no children had significantly high stress, anxiety, depression and IES-R scores. The non-health care professionals (non-HCP) had significantly higher levels of stress ( p =0.034) and depression signals ( p =0.028) and higher IES-R score ( p =0.001) than health care professionals (HCP). Student status was associated with high anxiety subscale scores ( p <0.001). Respondents who had higher level of education (Masters/Doctorate) and had (a) child/ren older than 16 years old had significantly lower DASS stress subscale, DASS anxiety subscale, DASS depression subscale and IES-R scores ( p <0.05). The socio-demographic variables household size and residential country during the outbreak were not associated with IES-R and DASS subscale scores.

3.3. Physical health status and association with psychological impact

Table 2 tabulates the self-reported physical health status of the respondents. Only 1% of the sample had fever of at least 1 day within the 2 weeks prior to the survey and 0.4% had fever in combination with either cough or breathing difficulty. Other respondents reported chills (2.1%), headache (22.6%), body pain (11.1%), cough (14.4%), breathing difficulty (6.7%), dizziness (5.5%), sore throat (12.6%) and nausea, vomiting or diarrhea (3.1%). These symptoms were significantly associated with higher scores for IESR, DASS stress subscale, DASS anxiety subscale and DASS depression subscale. The presence of runny nose in 12.4% of participants is associated with higher score for DASS stress ( p <0.001), anxiety ( p <0.001) and depression ( p =0.002) subscales. About 51.4% of respondents reported no symptom for the past 2 weeks.

Physical health status and association with psychological impact ( n =1879).

Overall, 5% of respondents consulted with a doctor in the clinic in the past 14 days; 0.3% were hospitalized; 0.5% were tested for COVID-19; and 2% had recent quarantine by health authority. Majority of the respondents rated their current health status as good; 20.1% reported suffering from a chronic illness and 57.6% had medical insurance coverage.

Recent consultation with doctors in clinics, recent placement in quarantine by a health authority and poor to very poor current health status were associated with high scores in IES-R, DASS stress subscale, DASS anxiety subscale and DASS depression subscale. Having medical insurance coverage was associated with a lower DASS anxiety subscale score ( p =0.008).

3.4. Travel and contact history and association with psychological impact

In the two weeks prior to the survey, only 31 respondents (1.6%) had international travel history ( Table 3 ). There were 201 (10.7%) respondents who had direct or indirect contact with patients suffering from COVID-19; 56 (3%) had close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19; 104 (5.5%) had indirect contact with a confirmed case; 88 (4.7%) had contact with a suspected case; and 29 (1.5%) had contact with infected materials. Among these variables, direct contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 was associated with higher depression subscale score ( p =0.044).

Travel and contact history and association with psychological impact ( n =1879).

3.5. Knowledge and concerns about COVID-19 and association with psychological impact

The proportions of respondents who perceive that the routes of transmission of the virus for COVID-19 were via droplets, via contaminated objects and airborne were 98.6%, 96.7% and 35.3%, respectively ( Table 4 ). About 76.8% were satisfied to very satisfied with the amount of health information available. Almost all knew about current numbers of cases, deaths and recoveries from COVID-19. Information was mainly sourced from social media and internet by 77.9% of the respondents with an average of 0-9 hours screen time. Three-fourths of respondents had confidence in their own doctors’ ability to recognize COVID-19. About 40.3% felt they will likely contract COVID-19 during the outbreak. There were 85% of respondents who felt they will likely survive if infected with COVID-19. On concerns about other family members getting COVID-19, 60.7% were very worried and 33.3% somewhat worried. Half of the respondents were somewhat to very worried about a child younger than 16 years old getting the illness.

Knowledge and concerns about COVID-19 and association with psychological impact ( n =1879).

Very high satisfaction on the amount of health information available about COVID-19 was associated with low scores in IES-R, DASS stress subscale, DASS anxiety subscale and DASS depression subscale ( p <0.001). Dissatisfaction with available health information was associated with high anxiety level ( p <0.001). Those who have not heard about the number of recovered cases had significant high scores on DASS stress subscale ( p =0.003), DASS anxiety subscale ( p =0.005) and IES-R ( p =0.002).

The proportion of those who primarily obtain their information through the social media and internet had high levels of anxiety ( p <0.001) and depression signals ( p <0.001). Those who had their family members as the main source of health information had high stress signals ( p =0.045).

High level of confidence in their own doctors’ ability to diagnose COVID-19 was associated with low scores in DASS stress subscale ( p =0.017), DASS anxiety subscale ( p =0.001), DASS depression subscale ( p =0.006) and IES-R ( p =0.006) scores.

Those who reported not likely contracting COVID-19 during the outbreak are either normal or have mild symptoms of stress ( p =0.017), anxiety ( p =0.001), and depression ( p =0.035). The respondents who felt unlikely to survive a COVID-19 infection and who felt worried about family members getting COVID-19 had high scores on stress, anxiety and depression subscales and IES-R. Those who felt very worried about a child younger than 16 years old getting COVID-19 had a significantly high score for DASS anxiety subscale ( p =0.005).

Majority did not feel being discriminated against by other countries due to the outbreak. However, to those who felt discriminated against, they had significantly high scores for stress ( p =0.001), anxiety ( p <0.001), depression ( p =0.004) and IES-R ( p <0.001).

3.6. Precautionary measures against COVID-19 and association with psychological impact

The majority practiced the precautionary measures against COVID-19 in the 14 days prior to responding to the survey as shown in Table 5 . Majority of the respondents stayed at home for 20-24 hours a day to avoid COVID-19. About 35.5% of respondents almost always felt that too much worry had been made about COVID-19.

Precautionary measures in the past 14 days and association with psychological impact ( n =1879).

The practice of washing hands after touching contaminated objects and the wearing of masks regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms were associated with low stress scores ( p <0.05). While the practice of always washing hands with soap and water was associated with both low stress ( p =0.034) and anxiety ( p =0.007) scores.

The long hours of staying at home (20-24 hours) was associated with high scores in the anxiety ( p =0.026) and depression ( p =0.005) subscales. Those who always felt that there was too much unnecessary worry about COVID-19 had high scores for IES-R ( p <0.001), and subscale scores for stress ( p <0.001), anxiety ( p =0.002) and depression ( p <0.001).

3.7. Additional health information and association with psychological impact

Table 6 shows that 70% of respondents wanted additional health information about COVID-19. Those who wanted additional information, details on symptoms, advice on prevention and treatment, regular updates for latest information and for the outbreaks in their local area, advice for people who might need more tailored information, information on the availability and effectiveness of medicine/vaccine for COVID-19 and updates on the route of transmission of the virus were all associated with significantly high scores for DASS anxiety subscale and IES-R. Those who need latest updates on the number of people infected and their location, travel advice and updates on how other countries handle the outbreak were associated with significantly high anxiety scores ( p <0.05).

Additional health information required and association with psychological impact ( n =1879).

4. Discussion

This survey was conducted in the first month that COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and enhanced community quarantine was implemented in the Philippines. To our knowledge, this was the first study that examined the psychological impact of COVID-19 to the general population in the country. During this time, 16.3% of the respondents reported moderate to severe psychological impact; 16.9% of the respondents reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms; 28.8% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms; and 13.4% reported moderate to severe stress signals. However, these levels were lower than the rates reported by Salari et al. (2020) which were 33.7%, 31.9% and 29.6% for depression, anxiety, and stress respectively. In China, the majority reported worse psychological impact with overall mean IES-R scores more than 24 points, indicating the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms ( Wang et al., 2020a ; Wang et al., 2020b ). Different populations in the world have been experiencing pandemic fear which can worsen feelings of anxiety that can lead to mental health disorders. Previous experiences of outbreaks like those caused by SARS, Ebola, and MERS-CoV contribute to heightening the impact of the present pandemic.

The study shows that females are more affected than males. The less educated, single people, children and adolescents, those who have no children reported high levels of stress, anxiety, depression and psychological impact. These subgroups, considered at greater risk for adverse psychological outcomes during a public health crisis, may be experiencing low social and emotional support, increased perceived threat to well-being and feelings of fear, isolation and uncertainty ( Perrin et al., 2009 ).

The students reported greater psychological impact as well as more depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms compared to those who are employed. The results were comparable to reports among the Chinese students ( Wang et al., 2020b ). Contributing factors include effects on daily life and routine, academic delays, and perhaps reduced social support ( Cao et al., 2020 ).

During pandemics, healthcare workers are at the front lines. They are subjected to long working hours, risk of infection, shortages of protective equipment, loneliness, exhaustion and separation from families ( Kang et al., 2020 ). They are at a significant risk of adverse mental health outcomes. However, our study shows that HCPs had lower levels of psychological impact, and symptoms of stress and depression than non-HCPs, comparable to the survey done among health care workers in Singapore ( Tan et al., 2020 ). This can be due to their strong sense of duty and ability to adapt to crisis. It can also be because the survey was done during the early parts of the pandemic when cases were still low and the health care system was not yet overwhelmed. As the pandemic ensues, mental health policies are needed to support our HCPs and other front-line workers.

In this study, most respondents rated their current health status as good. They feel that they are less likely to contract COVID-19 and more likely to survive the infection if they do get infected. They were also confident of their own doctors’ abilities. These perceptions seemed to be protective against adverse mental health state. It was reported that almost half of the respondents had at least one physical symptom within the last two weeks, but only 5% had a recent visit with their doctors for consultation. This disparity between symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 and health-seeking behavior may be due to factors like physical limitations caused by community quarantine, closed outpatient clinics, fear of getting infected in hospitals, and lack of public transportation. The presence of any of these symptoms and consequent imposed quarantine by a health authority was associated with psychological distress as also found among the Chinese population ( Wang et al., 2020a ). In severe instances where presence of symptoms cause social discrimination and avoidance, or lack of basic needs cause hopelessness, the more vulnerable individuals commit suicide ( Garger, 2020 ; Mamun and Griffiths, 2020 ; Rajkumar, 2020a ; Sher, 2020 ).

In the Philippines where universal health care is not yet fully implemented, the 60% of respondents who had medical health coverage had less anxiety symptoms as compared to those who had none. The government's health aid through the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (2020) which assured to cover the full cost of COVID-19 hospitalization to its members may have had a positive effect on the public's mental health.

During the initial phase of the lockdowns in the Philippines, majority of the respondents spent an average of 0-9 hours on social media to derive information and news. Those who had access and were satisfied to updated information experienced less psychological impact and lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Still many express the need for additional and up-to-date information. They were showing signs of anxiety and moderate psychological impact which may lead to “headline stress disorder” ( Dong and Zeng, 2020 ). Shared information that is relevant and unambiguous may alleviate panic and stress ( Hiremath et al., 2020 ). A more consistent public education is needed to decrease uncertainties that are associated with more emotional reactions.

It appeared that those who practice hand hygiene and wear face masks as precautionary measures have protective effects on psychological status. Wearing a face mask is generally recognized to prevent a sick person from transmitting the virus while also protecting the wearer from getting infected. At the time of the survey, many establishments have imposed a “no mask-no entry” policy.

The restriction in social mobility to control the pandemic is stressful as it prevents face-to-face connections and traditional social interactions ( Zhang et al., 2020 ). Those who can go out like the workers who provide essential services exhibited less symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to those who stay 20 to 24 hours at home. Those who exhibit COVID-related symptoms or potential contacts of COVID were isolated and separated from loved ones. The imposed quarantine as seen in previous outbreaks has associated negative psychological effects that may be linked to fears of having the infection and spreading it to family members; frustration and boredom from being isolated; duration of uncertainty and scarcity of basic supplies ( Brooks et al., 2020 ). While isolation may be a necessary preventive measure, adequate information, opening lines of communication and provision of essential supplies to those confined may improve psychosocial outcomes ( Brooks et al., 2020 ).

The present study has some limitations. First, the survey was done online and administered in the English language. Majority of respondents were well educated with access to the internet. Second, the snowball sampling strategy was initiated within the social network of academicians and healthcare professionals and may not be representative of the general population. Third, the survey was rolled in the early phase of the pandemic and the psychological outcomes may change over the course of the public health crisis.

5. Conclusion

During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, one-fourth of the respondents reported moderate-to-severe anxiety, one-seventh reported moderate-to-severe stress levels and one-sixth reported moderate-to-severe depression and psychological impact of the outbreak. Female gender, youth age of 12-21 years, single status, students, presence of specific physical symptoms (i.e., headache, cough, chills), recent imposed quarantine by a health authority, prolonged stay at home, poor self-reported health status, feeling of too much unnecessary worry has been made about COVID-19, concerns about family members getting sick, and feeling of being discriminated by other countries were associated with a greater psychological impact of the pandemic and higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Timely and accurate health information, having children older than 16 years old, perception of good health status and confidence in their own health care providers were associated with lesser psychological impact of the pandemic and lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression. The findings of this study can be used to frame appropriate psychological interventions to avert occurrence of mental health problems preventing psychological crisis.

Financial disclosure

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Michael L. Tee: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Project administration. Cherica A. Tee: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Project administration. Joseph P. Anlacan: Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Katrina Joy G. Aligam: Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Patrick Wincy C. Reyes: Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization. Vipat Kuruchittham: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Roger C. Ho: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - review & editing, Supervision.

Declaration of Competing Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Acknowledgement

The Philippine One Health University Networks leaders, Dr. Nieta C. Amit - University of Eastern Philippines, Dr. Luz T. Simborio - Central Mindanao University, Dr. Marieta O. Amatorio - Benguet State University, Dr. Clarissa Yvonne J. Domingo - Central Luzon State University, Dr. Loinda R. Baldrias - University of the Philippines Los Baños, Dr. Asuncion K. Raymundo - University of the Philippines Los Baños, Dr. Bernadette C. Mendoza - University of the Philippines Los Baños, Dr. Renard M. Jamora - University of the Philippines Los Baños, Dr. Romeo S. Gundran - Central Luzon State University, Dr. Melbourne Talactac - Cavite State University and Dr. Maria Fe S. Bulao - Pampanga State Agricultural University

The South East Asian One Health University Network

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