Youth Today – who are we teaching?

1. Dr Simon Denny Adolescent Health Research Group Auckland HPE Symposium December 2011 Youth Today – who are we teaching?

2. Youth2000: The National Youth Health Surveys • New Zealand has a poor record of adolescent health • Monitoring youth health is important to address and understand youth health issues • Health and education often have common goals and aims

3. Aims of today • Present findings from the national youth health surveys • Show some recent analyses of truanting behaviours among secondary schools students • What does taking part mean for schools?

4. Methodology • Two stage random sample • 96/115 schools agreed to participate (84%) • 9,107/12,549 students participated (75%) • Overall response rate 63%

5. Methodology

7. What do students enjoy about school?

8. Student engagement in school

9. Connectedness at School Source: 2007 National Youth Survey

10. Comparison of School Engagement Indicators 2001 to 2007

11. Comparison of School Safety 2001 to 2007

12. Cyber-bullying Source: 2007 National Youth Survey

13. Comparison of Family Relationships 2001 to 2007

14. Comparison of Activities2001 to 2007

15. Comparison of Cigarette, Alcohol and Marijuana Use 2001 to 2007

16. Cigarette, Alcohol and Marijuana Use

17. Problems from Alcohol Use

18. Depression Symptoms, Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempts 2001 and 2007

19. Proportion of students who have had sex 2001 and 2007

20. Violent behaviours during the last 12 months 2001 and 2007

21. Violence and harm in the last 12 months

22. Witnessing violence in students' homes in the last 12 months

23. Witnessing violence within the home and Sexual abuse 2001 and 2007

24. Youth Health in New Zealand Source: Youth’07

25. Social determinants of Youth Health

26. Prevalence of youth health risk behaviours by age Dangerous/ Reckless Driving Binge Drinking Drinking and Driving Alcohol Consumption Risky Sexual Behaviour Age

27. Current monthly use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and other illicit drugs Chen and Kandel 1995

28. Co-occurrence of these behaviours is common

29. Ever drunk alcohol Ever smoked cigarette Ever used marijuana Ever had sex Been in a fight in last 12 months Thought of killing themselves in last 12 months 84.1% reported at least one of these 6 behaviours 11.8% reported either 5 or all 6 of these health risk behaviours. Potentially Risky Behaviours

30. Health and Education:Truanting Behaviours

31. Truanting • Young people who truant are a major problem for schools and our communities • Educational achievement is critical for young people’s wellbeing and for their community • Traditionally health has not paid much attention to this group of students

32. Measuring truanting • ‘This year have you wagged or skipped school for a full day or more without an excuse?’ • ‘About how many days altogether have you wagged or skipped school this year’ (1 to 2 days’, ‘3 to 9 days’ 10 to 20 days’, ‘more than 20 days’, ‘not sure’)  Truanting = 3 or more full days of unexcused absence from school

33. Truanting by age

34. Truanting by ethnicity

35. Truanting by socio-economic deprivation

36. What about differences among students? • Students are not the same and vary by individual characteristics, family circumstances and emotional and behavioural issues • How do school environments impact of these students? • Are students with behavioural problems more likely to truant? • Do supportive school environments reduce the risk of truanting?

37. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire • Emotional symptoms: • Impulsive/aggressive behaviour problems: • Hyperactivity/inattention problems: • Peer problems

39. How do school environments impact of truanting among these groups of students?

42. Findings

44. Students differ considerably in their propensity to truant – students with emotional and behavioural problems are much more likely to truant than students without such problems. • Most students – those with low to moderate emotional or behavioural problems – are less likely to truant from schools where students get on well together, join in activities beyond the classroom, and feel part of the school. • However, this is not the case with students with high levels of emotional and behavioural problems. They are very likely to truant from any type or condition of school, whether there is a climate encouraging engagement or not. For these students, targeted mental health services are needed to provide treatment for their emotional health concerns and behavioural problems.

45. Why is information from the Youth2000 surveys important? • Nationally representative • Largest surveys of young people in New Zealand • Comprehensive • Robust and accurate • Trends over time • Identifies areas of concern • Dispels myths • Gives young people a voice

46. Taking part in the National Survey in 2012 • The success and validity of the national survey depends on high response rates • We randomly select 100 schools and 15% of students from each school to take part • We will do everything we can to accommodate each schools needs to minimise disruption • Each school gets a school report