Image: Wokandapix, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Mental health difficulties among young adults have doubled in the past decade, according to new research.
Looking at rates of mental ill-health across the UK, more than a quarter of gen Z (28%) report high levels of anxiety and a fifth (21%) have high levels of depressive symptoms at age 23.
The report also finds females, young adults from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and those from sexual minority groups are at particular risk of mental ill-health.
Researchers from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies analysed data from almost 10,000 people born in the UK in 2000-02 who are taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study.
At age 23, study participants answered a series of questions about their mental health.
The research team compared these data on rates of mental ill-health with earlier reports taken from the same people at age 17.
They also examined information reported in 2015 by a cohort of millennials in England when they were age 25 to see whether psychological difficulties had changed between generations.
Greater risk
Between their late teens and early 20s, the proportion of young people reporting a longstanding mental health condition had increased by 14 percentage points (8% versus 22%).
High levels of psychological distress had risen by 5 percentage points (16% vs 21%).
Females tended to have poorer mental health than males; a quarter of females reported high levels of psychological distress compared to 17% of males, and 28% of females reported a longstanding mental health condition compared to 15% of males.
Young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to have high levels of psychological distress compared to their advantaged peers (28% vs 19%).
They were also at greater risk of longstanding mental health conditions (27% vs 20%).
Over twice as many sexual minority young people reported high levels of psychological distress (40% vs 17%) and a longstanding mental health condition (46% vs 17%) than their heterosexual counterparts.
Reports of self-harm have declined (23% vs 20%) since the participants were age 17, but serious outcomes are still part of young people’s lives – approximately one in 10 reported a suicide attempt by self-harm.
Urgent need
Lead author, Dr Dominic P Kelly (UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies) said: “Our latest research on the lives of gen Z shows that today’s generation of young adults are reporting heightened mental health difficulties compared to previous generations.
“We find that many of their difficulties have worsened since their late teens.
“We also see striking differences for young adults who grew up in disadvantaged homes and for sexual minorities – highlighting an urgent need for targeted interventions to support these potentially vulnerable groups.”
Kelly continued: “Young adulthood is a critical period for the development and emergence of mental health difficulties as young adults typically leave the supervision of education settings and their homes (although less so than in previous generations) and begin independent lives.
“It also represents an important transition in the UK health system. Support tailored to the needs of many young people from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) ceases at age 18 leaving many without the guidance they may need.
“This gap could be filled by increasing partnerships between higher and further education institutions and NHS Mental Health Support Teams.
“The government’s pledge to increase mental health spending, in addition to the National Youth Strategy to decrease social isolation could also be beneficial.
“In addition, setting up health support specifically for 18- to 25-year-olds could be a bold new strategy.”
Kelly concluded: “Holistic approaches that do not rely on ‘one size fits all’ solutions to mental health problems may be needed and would be in line with NHS commitments to person-centred approaches to healthcare.”
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