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Professor Marloes Kleinjan will give her inaugural lecture ‘De onderste steen boven: over de verborgen zorgen van de jeugd' (Getting to the bottom: on the hidden concerns of young people) on 1 October. The lecture by Prof. Kleinjan will explain that there is still much which we do not know about the mental health of young people in the Netherlands. Many of their concerns remain hidden and are not being brought to light by the studies currently being conducted.

''If we really want to know how our young people are doing, we will have to dig deeper before we can truly get to the bottom of what they are thinking.''

What do you mean with the ‘hidden concerns’ of our young people?

''There has recently been a lot of media attention about the mental pressures that young people face. RIVM has also indicated that young people’s mental pressures are increasing and that they may have consequences for their mental health. By contrast, several studies have shown that the Dutch youth are among the happiest in the world. As these findings appear to be contradictory, I started talking to young Dutch people myself. One of the remarkable things which I learnt was that all of the young people I interviewed said that they were often worried about things. There wasn't a young person without worries about school-related issues, such as bullying or the pressure to perform.

Nonetheless, young people were very happy in general despite these concerns and experienced considerable freedom to make their own choices. There was a small group, however, who said that they worried a great deal and had negative emotions. We still know little about this small group of the population. Such studies as the one conducted by HBSC generally only provide a broad national overview of young people’s well-being.

From the HBSC study, we know that a vulnerable group exists, though we still don’t know what that group of vulnerable youth looks like exactly and how much they suffer from serious mental complaints. I believe that we have to do something about this situation. If our research can help to identify this group of vulnerable young people, we can provide better guidance and may be able to improve their mental health.''

How do you aim to conduct that research?

''In order to obtain a clearer picture of the vulnerable young people, you need to study not only that group but all of the groups in the Dutch youth population. The reason is that you want to gain insight into the group of young people who are doing well as well as the group teetering on the edge. Ideally, I’d like to gain insight into young people’s mental state by means of a psychiatric epidemiological study. In that way, I can follow the developments among Dutch youth over the course of several years.

Conducting biannual observations would present us with a clearer picture of all the groups involved. That process would allow us to assess how we can best offer help or prevention. The right form of prevention can be crucial in reinforcing mental health.''

 Is there no such prevention at the moment?

''While we have prevention materials, they have not been tested thoroughly. As a result, certain prevention methods are often utilised without evaluating their effectiveness. We also don’t have a good overview of the existing prevention materials. There are so many prevention materials available that schools often don’t know where to start looking or how they should make a choice. I want to provide more clarity by identifying which programmes are effective.

It’s also vital, however, that we look at which programmes work for which children. The most vulnerable group needs different forms of attention and prevention than the other group of young people. By developing such programmes and offering young people the right forms of prevention, I hope that I can reinforce their resilience and do away with their hidden concerns.''

Marloes Kleinjan will give her inaugural lecture in Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Hall on 1 October.

If our research can help to identify the group of vulnerable young people, we can provide better guidance and may be able to improve their mental health.

Prof. Marloes Kleinjan is a Professor of Youth Mental Health Promotion and a researcher within the research themes Healthy play, better coping and YOUth got talent at the Hub Child Expertise Center. She also works at the  
 

YOUTH RESEARCH THEME

If you want to tackle social problems, it is best to begin with children. The Utrecht ‘Dynamics of Youth’ research theme invests in resilient young people. Researchers from every field are working together to gain a better understanding of child development. How can we help children and young people to grow and develop in our rapidly changing society?