Ahead of a week of engagements related to World Mental Health Day, the Prince and Princess of Wales have released new research from their Royal Foundation that finds 6 in 10 young people (ages 16-24) believe that young people need better awareness and understanding of social and emotional skills.
In research commissioned by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales by Savanta, 40% of young people believe they aren’t managing their emotions well, and 95% further believe that their friends are having trouble with their mental health.
Savanta surveyed 3,125 young people in the United Kingdom between 18-26 September 2023, with the bulk of that being young people between the ages of 16 and 24. The data was weighted to be representative, nationally, of the demographics of 16-24 year-olds in the United Kingdom, factoring in age, gender, ethnicity and region.
According to the results, the Royal Foundation also found that 59% of young people believe “it’s very important for young people to have greater awareness and understanding of social and emotional skills” while 39% believe they don’t manage their emotions properly; and 65% say that mental health is important.
The findings were released on World Mental Health Day, as William and Catherine begin a series of engagements around the United Kingdom to raise awareness. On Tuesday, the couple were in Birmingham for a youth forum their Royal Foundation jointly hosted with BBC 1 Radio and The Mix.
‘Exploring our Emotional Worlds’, which was focused on “the importance of understanding our emotions and building positive relationships as the bedrock of our mental wellbeing,” according to the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s website, saw 100 young people gathered with mental health experts to discuss ways to better talk about emotions and change the conversation around mental health.
These experts included Marc Brackett from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Katie Thistleton, a BBC Radio 1 presenter, and Alex George, a television doctor.
In a speech, Catherine told the young people gathered that she and William are inspired “to see young people, like you all here today, leading this charge—being particularly brave in having some of those conversations yourself.”
She added: “As a generation, you value and talk more about your mental health than any before you—something we truly admire and applaud.”
“Simply talking about mental health is just not enough,” Catherine said. “Because although many more conversations are now taking place, it is now vital we spend more time focusing on how we talk about our mental health—and crucially; what are we going to do, to build positive, preventative solutions to one of today’s toughest challenges.”
Their engagement in Birmingham is just the beginning for the royal couple, who will carry out further engagements this week in honour of World Mental Health Week. Further details about each event will be released soon.
