Social connectedness and self-perceived mental health in Canadian transitional aged youth
Abstract
Introduction:Transitional aged youth (TAY; ages 15-24) is a vulnerable age group that face several life changes which contribute to many forms of distress in their lives.
Objective:To assess the impact social connectedness has on self-perceived mental health in Canadian TAY.
Methods:The dataset provided by the Canadian Community Health Survey 2016 cycle was used. Listwise deletion was used to handle missing data. The final sample size for the study was 5,378 youth between the ages of 15-24. Linear and ordinal logistic regressions were conducted for the statistical analysis of the dataset.
Results:With every point decrease in social connectedness, Canadian TAY have 12% more odds to rate their self-perceived mental health as good or fair/poor in comparison to excellent/very good.
Conclusion:A better understanding of social connectedness and its association with mental health in TAY may allow for implementation of programs and policies that can address lack of social connectedness across the country.