In the fall of 2023 (September and the extended to October of 2023), AYLUS mental health committee conducted an anonymous youth mental health survey, amassing over 400 responses (418 response in total and 417 were from youth responders) from 29 AYLUS branches across 12 states in the US. Columbus Branch Member, Brenna Li, organized the event as the committee chair, analyzed AYLUS Youth Mental Health Survey in December of 2023. Columbus branch member, Rachel Zhu, was also involved in the review and edition of the final report slide deck of the survey results. In January, the report was shared with and well received by AYLUS advisors, who were encouraged to share the results with their branch communities, with the aim of promoting mental health awareness. Brenna also generated a video based on the summary slide deck. With the permission from the AYLF board, the result video was also uploaded on the AYLUS website in January of 2024 for more visibility.
Volunteer hours:
Brenna Li (8 hours)
Rachel Zhu (1 hour)
Major take home messages from the survey results are:
- The good news is that the survey shows that
- Overall, the responders had good self physical and mental evaluation. They use a variety of different way to deal with stress. Volunteering is one of them.
- Most of the responders are aware of the mental health resources that their schools offer.
- Mental health issues DO exist in youth. They may be more prevalent in females than males, and in older than younger youth.
- Schoolwork is the most significant source of stress for the youth participating in the survey.
- Not surprisingly, yet importantly, the survey results seem to show that
- Exercise time and sleep time positively correlate with self mental evaluation.
- Social media time seem to negatively correlate with self mental evaluation.
- It is also worth noting that youth who were more likely to talk to their parents about stress seem to have better self mental evaluation than youth who were unlikely to do so.
