Best questions for middle school student survey about mental health and well-being

Here are some of the best questions for a middle school student survey about mental health and well-being, plus tips on crafting them effectively. With Specific, you can build or personalize a survey like this in seconds, leveraging our AI survey generator for deeper insights.

Best open-ended questions for middle school student survey about mental health and well-being

Open-ended questions encourage honest reflection and invite perspective not always captured by fixed choices. They’re perfect when you want students to freely express their ideas, emotions, or experiences, especially around sensitive topics.

1. Can you describe a time when you felt especially happy or proud recently?

2. What helps you feel calm or relaxed when you’re upset or stressed?

3. Is there anything at school or outside of school that makes you feel worried or anxious?

4. Who do you talk to when you’re having a tough day, and how does that help?

5. Are there things you wish your teachers or school could do to support your mental health?

6. How do you usually cope with challenges or problems you face?

7. What activities (sports, hobbies, clubs) make you feel good about yourself?

8. Have you noticed any changes in your feelings or moods lately? If so, what have they been?

9. What do you wish adults understood about how kids like you feel these days?

10. If you could change one thing to improve students’ well-being at your school, what would it be?

Open-ended questions like these are invaluable, considering that approximately 1 in 5 adolescents aged 12–18 experience a mental health disorder. Giving students the chance to voice their feelings helps uncover issues that might otherwise go unnoticed and provides richer qualitative insight for schools and communities. [1]

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for middle school student survey about mental health and well-being

Single-select multiple-choice questions are your best friend when you need structured, comparable data—or when you want to provide students an easy entry point into the conversation. Sometimes, younger respondents relate better to clear choices rather than composing longer answers, making it easier to quantify common experiences and trends before digging deeper.

Question: How often do you feel stressed or worried about school?

• Almost every day

• A few times a week

• Rarely

• Never

Question: Who do you usually talk to first when you feel down or anxious?

• Friend

• Parent or guardian

• Teacher or school counselor

• Other

Question: Which activities help you feel better when you’re having a rough time?

• Sports or physical activity

• Listening to music or drawing

• Spending time with friends

• Being alone for a while

When to followup with "why?" It’s crucial to add a "why" followup after a single-select question if you want to dig into the reasons behind a student’s choice. For example, if a student selects "Almost every day" when asked about stress, a followup like "Can you tell me more about what makes you feel stressed most days?" gives valuable depth and context.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? "Other" empowers students who don’t see their experiences reflected in the options provided. Use it whenever you suspect there could be additional answers you haven’t anticipated—then follow up for details. These unexpected responses can reveal important but overlooked trends or needs.

Should you include an NPS-style question in middle school student surveys?

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a popular tool for measuring overall satisfaction or loyalty, and it can also translate well to student well-being. In this context, you could use a question like: "On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend our school as a supportive place for students’ mental health and well-being?"

This gives you a quick, quantifiable pulse check from a wide student group and is particularly useful for tracking changes over time. You can generate an NPS survey for students instantly with Specific’s AI survey builder.

The power of follow-up questions

Digging deeper with smart, adaptive follow-ups is where the magic happens in conversational surveys. With automated AI followup questions, you get much more nuanced responses—turning simple answers into actionable insights.

Specific’s AI asks real-time, context-driven follow-ups based on each student’s last reply, just like a thoughtful human interviewer would.

• Student: "I get stressed before tests."

• AI follow-up: "Can you share what part of taking tests feels the most stressful for you?"

This approach surfaces what’s truly important or worrisome—rather than leaving you with vague or ambiguous responses.

How many followups to ask? Generally, two or three followup questions yield the richest insights without overwhelming students. It’s smart to give the option to skip to the next topic once you have enough information; Specific allows you to set this logic directly in the survey editor.

This makes it a conversational survey—it feels more like a chat than a form, which greatly boosts student engagement and authenticity.

AI survey response analysis is a breeze, even with lots of open text. AI rapidly sifts through responses and summarizes themes. See this explained in detail in our guide to analyzing student survey responses.

These automated followup questions are new—and transformative. Try generating a survey and see how smart, contextual probing leads to deeper understanding within minutes.

How to compose a great prompt for ChatGPT or AI survey generators

When you want AI to help with survey questions, start by being direct. For example:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for middle school student survey about mental health and well-being.

Your outcomes will improve if you give more context—describe a bit about yourself, your goals, or the survey’s purpose. For better results, use a detailed prompt:

I am a school counselor preparing a survey to better understand students’ experiences, challenges, and support needs regarding mental health and well-being. Please generate 10 open-ended questions that are age-appropriate and invite honest reflection.

After you get questions, ask the AI to categorize them for easier structuring:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Assess these groupings, and then ask the AI to dive deeper into the themes most relevant to your goals. For instance:

Generate 10 questions for categories "Support Systems", "Coping with Stress", and "School Environment".

This method helps you create structured, balanced surveys that are tailored for your specific context or needs.

What is a conversational survey (and why use AI?)

Conversational surveys are interactive, AI-driven surveys that mimic a natural chat, not a rigid form. This approach not only makes surveys more approachable for students but also supports adaptive, context-based probing—something traditional surveys rarely achieve.

Why use AI for middle school student surveys? Mental health and well-being are nuanced, and students open up when conversations are flexible and friendly. Having an AI survey generator automatically shape followup questions—and summarize their responses instantly—avoids missed opportunities and helps school staff respond proactively. For more on survey creation, check our step-by-step guide to creating student surveys on mental health and well-being.

With Specific, you get an expert-level, conversational survey experience that leads to higher quality data—and a smoother process for both survey builders and students themselves.

See this mental health and well-being survey example now

Explore the impact of conversational, AI-powered student surveys: see how fast you can create tailored questions, engage students naturally, and get actionable insights without the manual effort. Start your own survey with Specific and experience a new standard in student feedback.