New research has shown Australian teenagers who have ‘risk clusters’ of six unhealthy behaviours, like binge drinking, smoking, and poor sleep, are at greater risk of developing mental health problems.
The researchers from UNSW’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre surveyed 853 teenagers, and found the bigger the risk cluster, the bigger the chance of mental health issues.
Brett Lambkin, PE teacher from Belmont High school, said that the syllabus of schools should focus on the strengths and the advantages of making good decisions, instead of just focusing on the negatives to combat the development of these risk clusters.