RIVM and CBS: "The mental health of young people in decline in the last ten years"

Youth mental health has deteriorated over the past decade, especially among boys and men aged 18 to 19 and 22 to 23 years old. The percentage of people with psychological disorders also increases among girls aged 16 and 17. The National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) writes this Friday in an explanation of research conducted by Statistics Netherlands. The one who reported in 2018 that the proportion of young people with psychological disorders has increased from 7 to 8% in ten years. home tensions, parental expectations and government policy, including the lending system and social political circumstances, such as climate.

Student organizations were looking forward to this RIVM study in the hope that a link could be established between the psychological distress of students and the loan system. Minister Van Engelshoven (D66, OCW) announced a study on the treatment of student loan interest rate by the Senate. However, this study does not provide a definitive answer on the influence of borrowing on the psyche of students.
Tom van den Brink, president of the Interurban Student Consultation, was disappointed. "Further research seems necessary in order to draw other conclusions." Van Engelshoven will now assign a separate mission to RIVM. Peter van der Velden, a psychologist specializing in stress health at the CentERdata Research Institute, believes that research on the relationship between psychological complaints and student loans is particularly complex: "There are other factors that influence. In accordance with international research, a nationally representative sample showed that mental health did not deteriorate among 19-24 year olds in 10 years. According to him, reliable statistical research did not show that student stress had increased. "Yet this is repeated every year in the media," he says.