Page 233 - Inovacije i izazovi u obrazovanju i sestrinskoj skrbi - KNJIGA SAŽETAKA

INOVACIJE I IZAZOVI U OBRAZOVANJU I SESTRINSKOJ SKRBI - KNJIGA SAŽETAKA

The Influence of Peers on the Mental Health of High School

Students

Peer relationships in adolescence play a key role in the healthy growth and maturation of young
people.
The aim of the research: The aim of the research work was to examine the influence of peer
friendship on the mental health of adolescents. The specific goals were to examine the
differences in the understanding of friendship between adolescents of different genders and
ages.
Study design: cross-sectional survey
Respondents and methods: 82 students between the ages of 16 and 18 participated in the
research. A self-made questionnaire was used. The research was conducted at the Bedekovčina
Secondary School in the period from 1 December 2021. – 15 December 2021.
Results: The obtained results show that 75% of adolescents consider friendly relations with
peers to be very important. The majority of respondents are not motivated or encouraged by
their peers to study and achieve better results in school (62.50% of respondents aged 16 and
71.23% of respondents aged 18). It was also confirmed that 78.57% of respondents in the 18-
year-old age group lied to protect a friend, while 62.50% of respondents in the 16-year-old age
group did so. 62% of respondents declared that they prefer to talk about problems with friends
rather than with parents and teachers.
Conclusion: Peer relationships and friendships are a very important component for the healthy
mental development of adolescents. Respondents are equally aware of the importance of
friendship, and there are no significant differences in this regard with regard to age and gender.
Most female respondents in all age groups are able to lie to protect a friend.

Key words: mental health; friendship, influence, young people

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