The survey was run by Services for Young People (SfYP) in partnership with Public Health Hertfordshire and aimed to find out more about young people’s experiences, what is important to them and the challenges they face. The questions covered many aspects of their lives, from diet and physical activity to factors affecting their wellbeing and mental health.
The 10 SfYP district Youth Strategy Partnership Groups and SfYP Youth Councils/Forums will use the results to adapt local action plans, enabling different organisations to work together to support young people across the county. There was a 40% increase in the number of respondents compared with last year, giving us a wealth of information to inform the development of services provided in each district.
Some of the key findings are:
Mental health and wellbeing
- 17% of all young people who completed the survey rated their life satisfaction as low, a decrease of 19% compared to 2020
- 5% stated that they have self-harmed before, a 9% increase from 2020
- 63% knew how to access mental health support and services, while 17% were not aware
Nearly 40% of respondents reported experiencing bullying in the past, with females slightly more affected
- 44% of females said they had been bullied or picked on
- 37% reported that they have been bullied online or somewhere other than school
- 74% of young people were not currently being bullied
Worrying about their future was the most common concern for 53% of young people
- 66% of respondents planned to get a job after leaving school or wanted to continue in education and 31% were not sure what they want to do
- 53% said they would like more information about higher education and 47% about jobs
- Other top worries among young people included schoolwork, appearance, mental health, and friendship issues
Young people use a range of coping strategies to help manage their worries
- 77% coped by talking to friends and family and 54% listened to music
- Exercise was a coping mechanism for 33% of young people
- Screen time emerged as a new coping strategy for 29% of young people in this year’s survey
To explore the survey results further, view the questions, and sort the results by demographics, use the dropdowns in the navigation bar at the top of the dashboard:
Learn more about how SfYP supports young people with these issues by visiting our Support for young people section of the website.
If you have queries about the dashboard or survey data, you can email the Public Health Evidence & Intelligence Team at [email protected].
