Section 6: Children’s current mental health and wellbeing In a breakdown by gender, the survey shows: • 47% of children who identify as non-binary or other answered ‘very often’. This is more than three times the general sample. It is important to note, this finding is based on a small number of respondents (47% = 60 respondents). • 17% of girls and 10% of boys answered ‘very often’. • 8% of boys and 3% of girls answered ‘never’. Parents/guardians and grandparents responding on behalf of their child indicated that their children felt down, scared or worried more often, compared with children’s self-reporting. Figure 16: Parents/guardians and grandparent’s survey: how often do you think your child currently feels down, scared or worried? 27% 5% >1% 6.3 How often do children feel down, scared or worried? The most common response by children to the question, ‘At the moment, how often do you feel down, scared or worried?’, was ‘sometimes’ (34%), followed by ‘not very often’ (25%). 13% of children felt down, scared or worried ‘very often’. >1% 49% Very often (n=244) Sometimes (n=431) Not very often (n=160) Never (n=5) I don’t know (n=5) Did not answer question (n=43) 18% Figure 15: Children’s survey: at the moment, how often do you feel down, scared or worried? 20% 13% 4% 5% 34% Very often (n=611) Sometimes (n=1540) Not very often (n=1129) Never (n=208) I don’t know (n=163) Did not answer question (n=908) 25% 50 | ‘Mental health shapes my life’: COVID-19 & kids’ wellbeing • 2022 | 51