More than half of Quebecers aged 16-20 are experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety or depression, according to a study carried out this past January by a team from the Université de Sherbrooke’s school of medicine.
Aimed at keeping tabs on the state of mental health among youth aged 12-25 years of age in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study drew responses from 32,992 young people in five regions of Quebec: the Estrie, the Monteregie, the Mauricie, the Centre du Quebec, and the Laurentians.
“The idea was to check back in on the psychological health of young people,” said Dr. Melissa Généreux, who supervised the research team. Généreux explained that this was not the first such study to be carried out, but rather an update on a process of observation started last year. “It wasn’t necessarily the same young people taking the survey,” she clarified, pointing out that the 2022 survey had a broader reach and additional questions.
The survey asked questions based on six main themes: psychological health, optimism, substance use, attraction to school, school-work balance and the perceived impacts of the pandemic on different spheres of life.
