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Young people who are comfortable in their own skin learn better. However, many young people experience stress at school and pressure to achieve, increasing school absenteeism. research project, led by Utrecht youth researcher Margot Peeters, has investigated how to tackle stress at school and school absenteeism. The results have just been incorporated into an online conversation tool, . This tool will help secondary schools work school-wide to reduce stress at school, pressure to achieve and school absenteeism.

Peeters has been researching young people’s mental well-being for years. “In spite of this, much of our scientific knowledge around mental well-being is not reaching the professional field. With this research project, we tried to find out what was missing in order to translate scientific insights into an actionable solution for schools.”

Suggestions for improvements

The Mental Capital Roadmap will help schools start the conversation about their students’ well-being and take practical steps to improve it. The Roadmap is structured around three themes: pressure to achieve, stress at school and school absenteeism. Professionals can use the tool to assess how their own school scores on these themes, after which the tool will offer suggestions for improvements.

Many schools simply opt for ready-made interventions that aren’t always backed by science.

Step by step

Peeters points out that every school environment is obviously different and that mental well-being support needs can vary enormously between schools. “Some schools already do plenty of work on this, while others have a student population that requires a specific approach. With the Roadmap, we try to accommodate this diversity. We also try to support schools step by step with their problem analysis and the decision-making process can be tailored to the needs of the school.”

Scientific duty

During the four-year project, Peeters was struck by how little is available to help schools with mental well-being support needs. “Under those circumstances, many schools simply opt for ready-made interventions that aren’t always backed by science. I believe scientists have a duty to unlock the knowledge that is out there for professionals. Hopefully, the Roadmap will help in this regard.” 

The Roadmap grew out of research by the regional knowledge centre Youth & Family Central. The project team is formed by the Public Health Service for the Utrecht region, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, the Trimbos Institute and Utrecht University and is led by youth researcher Margot Peeters.