PEDALS research project

Presentation of the study

PEDALS is a research project that aims to estimate the prevalence of mental health problems and psychiatric conditions among young people in Sweden. The study will also evaluate young people's need for support with the overall aim of gaining a broader perspective on support for mental illness. Further, the study will explore the effect of social media use (SMU) on Swedish youth's mental health.

Background

In Sweden and in several other Western countries the utilization of mental helath care is steadily increasing over time. In addition, self-reported mental distress such as nervousness, low self-esteem and anxiety are increasing among young people. These do not meet the criteria for a psychiatric disorder and do not necessarily require treatment. The discussion around how to support the potentially increasing group of young people with mental health problems sometimes becomes polarized due to our fragmentary knowledge about the actual needs and numbers of young people with problems.

As this knowledge is largely lacking, the objective of this research project is to investigate the size of groups that suffer from mental disorders (such as worry and anxiety, that do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis) and psychiatric conditions (that meet the criteria for a diagnosis), and what needs young people have when considering the range of support both in and outside of healthcare.