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A new study by the Outdoor Youth Programs Research Alliance (OYPRA) developed and conducted over nine years has shown camps and outdoor education programs can lead to improved mental health and wellbeing in young people. OYPRA is an alliance of researchers led by the Centre for Adolescent Health (Murdoch Children\u2019s Research Institute) together with Australia\u2019s top universities, state governments, not-for-profit community organisations, and key representatives from the outdoor industry.<\/p>\n
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The world-first research of 335 Year 9 students (aged 14-16), which included a control-group of students who did not participate on camp; found that those suffering from higher levels of anxiety were less anxious and more resilient after school camp. Furthermore, OYPRA\u2019s research found that students benefited from improved confidence after attending camp, particularly their self-efficacy: belief in their ability to achieve goals. The research found:<\/p>\n
OYPRA spokesperson Pete Griffiths said the findings should assist policymakers in solving the issue of rising anxiety and mental illness in young Australians, with almost a quarter (23%) of young people aged 15 to 19 showing symptoms of probable serious mental illness according to Mission Australia, up from 19% five years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always been an understanding that outdoor learning is good for us \u2013 now we know that camps support better mental health and more resilient young Australians,\u201d Mr Griffiths said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore and more Australian children and teenagers are suffering mental health issues and battling low self-esteem, OYPRA\u2019s research confirms that camps offer a real solution in supporting healthy kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who attend camps are challenged, get active, become immersed in nature, are guided by experienced outdoor leaders and form stronger friendships all of which support improved mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n
OYPRA hopes the important research will support policymakers achieve better outcomes in both health and education initiatives. As more technology is integrated into the education system and home life, there is a need now more than ever to balance the way young Australians learn by getting them outdoors.<\/p>\n
Read more about research findings here<\/a>.<\/p>\n With support from the Australian Research Council, Outdoor Youth Programs Research Alliance (OYPRA) was founded in 2009 to undertake a long-term program of high quality research that evaluates the benefits of outdoor, camping and nature-based programs on the resilience, learning and wellbeing of young Australians. OYPRA is funded through an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant with matched industry partner contributions.<\/p>\n OYPRA members include: the Royal Children\u2019s Hospital, Murdoch Children\u2019s Research Institute, University of Melbourne, Deakin University, University of Oregon USA, the Australian Camps Association, the State Government of Victoria, the Outdoor Education Group, the Outdoor Council of Australia, YMCA Victoria, Outdoors Victoria, Operation Newstart, United Church Camping and Outward Bound Australia.<\/p>\n Read more here:\u00a0https:\/\/www.rch.org.au\/cah\/research\/OYPRA\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Camping in nature helps ease pupils stress<\/a> A new study developed over nine years by OYPRA found school camps can reduce anxiety and boost the confidence of young Australians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":2913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5270],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2903"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2946,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2903\/revisions\/2946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/cah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Key messages<\/h3>\n
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About OYPRA<\/h2>\n
Media<\/h2>\n
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<\/a> | Herald Sun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"