Is headspace making a difference to young people’s lives?

4. Outcomes of headspace Clients
35.1% had high levels of distress. Of the group who experienced a reliable change, 82.2% had
commenced headspace with very high levels of distress, 8.7% with high and 9.1% with moderate
levels of distress.
Young people who attended headspace with low or moderate levels of distress were overrepresented
in the group who experienced a clinically significant decline (a worsening of their distress
levels). While 8.4% of the sample had a low K10 score when they first attended headspace and
14.4% a moderate K10 score, they accounted for 24.5 and 54.4% respectively of the group who
experienced a clinically significant decline (Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1 K10 changes by commencing K10 group (%)
Source: Authors calculations from hCSA data.
Changes in K10 scores differed for young people presenting with different primary issues and
by the number of occasions of service they received. Young people presenting with a primary
issue of mental health and behavioural problems experienced decreases in their K10 scores (i.e.
improvements in their psychological distress). In contrast, psychological distress deteriorated
between visits 2 and 3 for the group of young people who presented with a primary issue of sexual
or physical health problems. Young people with alcohol and other drug issues experienced an initial
deterioration in psychological distress, but levels fluctuated across their occasions of service, with a
steep increase in average K10 scores displayed between visits 9 and 10 (Figure 4.2). The findings
may be influenced by the smaller sample size.
Social Policy Research Centre 2015
headspace Evaluation Final Report
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