Väitös (lastenpsykiatria): MSc Yuko Mori
Aika
30.8.2024 klo 12.00 - 16.00
MSc Yuko Mori esittää väitöskirjansa ”PERCEIVED SCHOOL SAFETY, HELP-SEEKING FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AND SUICIDE ATTEMPT RELATED TO CYBERBULLYING AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN 13 ASIAN AND EUROPEAN COUNTRIES” julkisesti tarkastettavaksi Turun yliopistossa perjantaina 30.08.2024 klo 12.00 (Turun yliopisto, Medisiina D, Säätiö-sali, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, Turku).
Yleisön on mahdollista osallistua väitökseen myös etäyhteyden kautta: https://utu.zoom.us/j/63871436682 (kopioi linkki selaimeen).
Vastaväittäjänä toimii professori emeritus Takeshi Tamura (Tamura Takeshi Research Institute, Japani) ja kustoksena professori Andre Sourander (Turun yliopisto). Tilaisuus on englanninkielinen. Väitöksen alana on lastenpsykiatria.
Väitöskirja yliopiston julkaisuarkistossa: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-9823-4
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Tiivistelmä väitöstutkimuksesta:
Many mental health problems start during adolescence. Collecting global data on mental health is crucial to understand how common these problems are and how we can reduce them. However, there is limited reliable data comparing mental health among adolescents across countries. In my doctoral research, I have explored the key mental health challenges faced by adolescents across countries in Asia and Europe with a specific focus on perceived school safety, help-seeking behavior for mental health problems, and an association between cyberbullying and suicidal attempt.
I first reviewed 43 studies that looked at how safe students feel at school. The percentage of students who feel unsafe at school ranged widely, from 6.1% to 69.1%, depending on the study. Comparing results between these studies was difficult because they used different ways to measure and analyse how safe students feel. And importantly, there was a clear lack of cross-national studies on this topic.
To address these research gaps, we conducted a school-based cross-national study, the Eurasian Child Mental Health Study, using comparable methods across countries. The sample included 21,688 adolescents aged 13-15 from China, Finland, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The result revealed that about 31.4% of adolescents felt unsafe at school and it ranged from 11.5% in Finland to 69.8% in Japan for girls, and from 7.7% in Norway to 68.2% in Japan for boys. Factors such as bullying, mental health issues, and lack of teacher support play a significant role in this perception. Many adolescents, especially in lower-income countries, rarely sought formal help for their mental health issues. Girls were generally more likely to seek help than boys. In total, 4.8% of adolescents have attempted suicide and it was more common among girls. Adolescents who were bullied both online and in person were at the highest risk of attempting suicide.
Overall, my research emphasizes the importance of creating safer school environments and providing better mental health support to adolescents to help them thrive during this critical stage of development. It suggests implementing school-based mental health programs, anti-bullying initiatives, and digital mental health interventions to support adolescents globally.
Yleisön on mahdollista osallistua väitökseen myös etäyhteyden kautta: https://utu.zoom.us/j/63871436682 (kopioi linkki selaimeen).
Vastaväittäjänä toimii professori emeritus Takeshi Tamura (Tamura Takeshi Research Institute, Japani) ja kustoksena professori Andre Sourander (Turun yliopisto). Tilaisuus on englanninkielinen. Väitöksen alana on lastenpsykiatria.
Väitöskirja yliopiston julkaisuarkistossa: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-9823-4
***
Tiivistelmä väitöstutkimuksesta:
Many mental health problems start during adolescence. Collecting global data on mental health is crucial to understand how common these problems are and how we can reduce them. However, there is limited reliable data comparing mental health among adolescents across countries. In my doctoral research, I have explored the key mental health challenges faced by adolescents across countries in Asia and Europe with a specific focus on perceived school safety, help-seeking behavior for mental health problems, and an association between cyberbullying and suicidal attempt.
I first reviewed 43 studies that looked at how safe students feel at school. The percentage of students who feel unsafe at school ranged widely, from 6.1% to 69.1%, depending on the study. Comparing results between these studies was difficult because they used different ways to measure and analyse how safe students feel. And importantly, there was a clear lack of cross-national studies on this topic.
To address these research gaps, we conducted a school-based cross-national study, the Eurasian Child Mental Health Study, using comparable methods across countries. The sample included 21,688 adolescents aged 13-15 from China, Finland, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The result revealed that about 31.4% of adolescents felt unsafe at school and it ranged from 11.5% in Finland to 69.8% in Japan for girls, and from 7.7% in Norway to 68.2% in Japan for boys. Factors such as bullying, mental health issues, and lack of teacher support play a significant role in this perception. Many adolescents, especially in lower-income countries, rarely sought formal help for their mental health issues. Girls were generally more likely to seek help than boys. In total, 4.8% of adolescents have attempted suicide and it was more common among girls. Adolescents who were bullied both online and in person were at the highest risk of attempting suicide.
Overall, my research emphasizes the importance of creating safer school environments and providing better mental health support to adolescents to help them thrive during this critical stage of development. It suggests implementing school-based mental health programs, anti-bullying initiatives, and digital mental health interventions to support adolescents globally.