health school

Emotional well-being
Measures
• Thinking about the last week… (Never, Rarely,
Quite often, Very often, Always)
o Have you felt full of energy?
o Have you felt lonely?
o Have you been able to pay attention?
Young people were asked about a number of issues relating
to emotional well-being including feeling full of energy,
feeling able to pay attention and feeling lonely (table 2.2).
Nearly two thirds (65%) of young people reported good
concentration and focus and had been able to pay attention
“very often” or “always” during the last week. Overall,
gender differences were small; 66% of boys compared
with 63% of girls. Feeling able to pay attention was most
commonly reported among younger adolescents (Table 2.2).
Around half (51%) of young people said they felt full of
energy “very often” or “always” during the previous week.
Girls were less likely to report high levels of energy (feeling
full of energy); 57% of boys compared with 45% of girls.
Feeling energised decreased with age among both boys and
girls; however among girls the decline is steeper, with the
gender difference being considerably more prominent at 15
years old (Table 2.2).
8% of young people said they had felt lonely in the last week.
Feelings of loneliness increased only slightly with age among
boys, whereas girls’ reports of loneliness show a more
dramatic increase across the three age categories (Table 2.2)
Table 2.2: Self-reported emotions and feelings (during past week)
All ages 11 year olds 13 year olds 15 year olds
Boys
Girls
Total
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Felt able to pay
attention
66%
63%
65%
76%
80%
65%
62%
54%
44%
Felt full of energy
57%
45%
51%
67%
63%
55%
44%
45%
23%
Felt lonely
5%
11%
8%
4%
5%
5%
11%
7%
19%
20
HBSC England National Report