Findings reflect the responses of 1915 youth in the 13 to 18 age range.
On a scale of 0 to 10, a rating of 8 or higher was considered high. In Halton, 32% of youth reported high levels of life satisfaction.
Among the 18% who reported having a diagnosed mood or anxiety disorder, anxiety disorders were more frequent than mood disorders. Youth in the 16 to 18 age range (compared to youth in the 13 to 15 age range), girls and nonbinary youth (as compared to boys), and youth who did not rate their mental health as very good or excellent were more likely to report having a diagnosed mood or anxiety disorder. Youth identifying as Indigenous were also more likely to report having a diagnosed mood or anxiety disorder. Immigrant youth were less likely to report a mental health diagnosis, independently of their age, gender, or time living in Canada. While the survey did not include a full questionnaire on symptoms that could be indicative of a mental health diagnosis, youth did report symptoms they experienced in their daily lives.
In Canada, in 2020, just over 1 in 10 youth aged 12 to 17 evaluated that their days were quite a bit or extremely stressful . In Halton, a little over 3 in 10 youth reported experiencing this level of stress in their lives.
Youth’s perception of mental health services varied. Youth diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder were more likely to rate quality and accessibility of services as poor or fair (independent of gender or age). Girls, regardless of having a mental health diagnosis, were also more likely to give lower ratings to quality and accessibility of mental health services. Youth identifying as Indigenous, newcomer youth living in Canada for 5 years or less, and youth who rated their mental health as very good or excellent were less likely to give lower ratings to mental health services’ quality and accessibility (independently of having a diagnosed mood or anxiety disorder).
Young people living in Halton Hills were less likely to rate the quality or accessibility of services as very good or excellent, compared to the other three municipalities
Note: The ratings on perceived quality and accessibility of mental health services cannot be linked to service use, as this survey did not measure previous use of mental health services or the types of mental health services they may or may not have used. This indicator provides insight into how easy or difficult youth believe it may be to access high-quality mental health care.
The Story Behind the Numbers →