Adolescents' Mental Well-Being and Social Support: Mixed Methods Study.
Leona Cilar Budler, Gregor Stiglic, Owen Barr and 1 others
PMID 41392999WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents' mental well-being drops as they age, with family support mattering most in primary school and friends taking over in secondary school.
School nurses are seen as approachable experts, but interactions remain informal and unstructured rather than part of formal care.
Key findings
01Perceived social support from family, friends, and teachers decreases with age, and mental well-being scores decline as adolescents progress through school.
02Primary school students identify family (especially mothers) as the most important support, while secondary school students identify friends as more influential than family.
03Students perceive school nurses as approachable and knowledgeable, but interactions are described as informal and unstructured, with no evidence of formal mental health care or structured educational sessions provided by nurses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that social support causes better mental well-being, only that they are linked. Data relies on self-reported questionnaires, which may include socially desirable answers. The study did not assess whether students received any formal mental health care or structured educational sessions from nurses, so it cannot evaluate the effectiveness of any specific nursing intervention. The qualitative sample of decision-makers was small (n=3), limiting the generalizability of policy perspectives.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was not funded by external commercial entities.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that the presence of school nurses improves mental well-being outcomes. The study found no evidence of structured nursing interventions; interactions were informal, and the design cannot determine if nurse contact actually causes better well-being.