The General Association of Chinese Students of Macao (AECM), in conjunction with the University of Saint Joseph’s (USJ) Macao Observatory for Social Development, has conducted a survey on the state of the mental health of Macau’s middle-school students, the findings of which show that over 10 percent of the 1,655 respondents were affected by anxiety disorders most of the time or even permanently.
According to the findings, which were released yesterday during a press conference at the AECM headquarters in the Building of Macao Daily News on Avenida de Venceslau de Morais, anxiety disorders are more prevalent among female than male students.
The survey targeting local middle-school students was carried out between October 16 and November 9, during which 1,655 valid questionnaires were collected.
In the questionnaires, students were asked about their satisfaction with their current situation in life, with the findings showing that most of the respondents have an average level of life satisfaction, indicating that the average positive emotions of middle-school students are about 15 percent higher than their negative emotions.
The findings show that students’ enthusiasm for life, connection with the outside world, and life pressure are on a medium or higher level, with the average scale of respondents’ persistence in pursuing their efforts and stability of pursuing their interests standing at 3.14 and 3.04 respectively, out of a scale ranging between 0.00 and 5.00, while the average scale concerning the three aspects of meaning of life, managing one’s life and understanding of life stood at about 4.00, out of a scale of 0.00 to 7.00.
During the press conference, AECM representative Sio Hin Wa urged the government to pay more attention to middle-school students’ mental health and enhance young people’s self-confidence, enabling them to share their feelings more frankly, while also reducing their mental internal friction caused by fear of failure.
Sio urged parents and teachers to place more confidence in young people, acting like a companion to accompany them in the face of difficulties and failures.
Representatives of the General Association of Chinese Students of Macao (AECM) and the University of Saint Joseph’s (USJ) Macao Observatory for Social Development present the findings of their recent survey on the state of the mental health of local middle school students, during a press conference yesterday at the AECM headquarters in the Building of Macao Daily News on Avenida de Venceslau de Morais. – Photo: Yuki Lei
