Schools and institutes will measure the emotional health of students from 5th grade

All schools and institutes of Catalonia will perform, between May 2 and May 27a poll to find out the status of emotional health of students a from 5th gradeincluding that of ESO, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training. As the ‘conseller’ Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray already advanced in an interview with EL PERIÓDICO, Educationalong with the Ministers of Health and Equality and Feminisms they want to have a photograph of the mental health of the students, one of the groups that has suffered the most from the situations derived from the coronavirus pandemicthen design action plans.

The results will allow Educació to detect the points where the emotional health of adolescents is most affected and from there the pertinent decisions will be made in coordination with Health and other departments.

The survey can be answered voluntary and anonymous since, on the one hand, the requested information is sensitive, and on the other, the objective is not individual detection, but to evaluate the general state of the students.

The questionnaire consists of 27 questions closed. Some have multiple response options, either through a scale of 1 to 5 or the parameters never and always. In all cases, the options ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t want to say’ will also appear as a possible response.

The Department’s idea is for students to fill out the survey, which is in digital format, at the school, during the tutoring time. In order to put it into practice, in the case of minors under 14 years of age, the consent of the mother, father or legal guardian will be required. The Department has sent an email this Tuesday informing the centers of the operation of the survey and has provided them with a letter for the families.

Environment, family and dependencies

The questions refer to 5 scopes differentiated: emotional well-being, family support, school environment, violence and abuse, and dependency. With regard to emotional well-being, students are asked about the current situation and that experienced during confinement. They are also asked about the degree of emotions they feel, be it anger, frustration, happiness, confidence or security, among others.

In the field of family support, the survey seeks to find out the type of family relationship that students have, the degree of support they receive from their family and who they can count on in case of need.

Related news

In the field of the school environment, they will be asked about the changes experienced during and after confinement and how these have affected their emotional state. And in the abuse and dependency section, both the use of digital devices and the consumption of substances such as tobacco, alcohol or drugs will be emphasized.

An question example on emotional well-being it would be ‘Rate from 1 to 5 how you felt and how things went during confinement’. Here you are asked 5 options (never, rarely, sometimes, often, always) to the following questions: ‘Did you have the desire or energy to do things? Did you have a feeling of being down, depressed or hopeless?’ . In the family sphere, an example would be ‘During the pandemic and confinement, the relationship with your family: it has improved, it is the same, it has worsened, I don’t know, I don’t want to say’.