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According to a study published by the American Psychological Association, the percentage of young Americans suffering from certain types of mental disorders has increased dramatically over the last ten years, with no corresponding increase in older adults.
"More teenagers and young American adults in the late 2010s, as opposed to the mid-2000s, experienced severe psychological distress, major depression or suicidal thoughts and more suicide attempts," he said. said senior author Jean Twenge, PhD, author of the book "iGen" and professor of psychology at San Diego State University. "These trends are weak or non-existent in adults 26 years and older, suggesting a generational shift in mood disorders instead of an overall increase at all ages."
The research was published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Twenge and his coauthors badyzed data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative survey that tracks drug and alcohol use, mental health and other health-related issues among people aged 12 and over in the United States since 1971. They examined responses to over 200,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 between 2005 and 2017, and nearly 400,000 adults aged 18 and over between 2008 and 2017.
The rate of people reporting symptoms of major depression in the last 12 months increased by 52% between 2005 and 2017 (from 8.7% to 13.2%) and by 63% among young adults aged 18 and over. at age 25 between 2009 and 2017 (from 8.1% to 13.2%). From 2008 to 2017, the number of young adults in severe psychological distress also increased by 71% (from 7.7% to 13.1%). The rate of young adults with suicidal thoughts or other issues related to suicide increased by 47% between 2008 and 2017 (from 7.0% to 10.3%).
There was no significant increase in the percentage of older adults suffering from depression or psychological distress during the corresponding periods. The researchers even found a slight decrease in psychological distress in people over 65 years old.
"The cultural trends of the past 10 years may have had a greater effect on mood disorders and suicide-related outcomes among younger generations compared to older generations," said Twenge, who believes that this trend may be partly due to the increased use of electronic and digital communications. the media, which may have sufficiently changed the social interaction modes to affect mood disorders. She also pointed out that research has shown that young people do not sleep as much as in previous generations.
Increased use of digital media may have had a greater impact on teens and young adults as seniors' social lives are more stable and may have changed less than teens in the last 10 years years, said Twenge. Seniors may also be less likely to use digital media in a way that interferes with their sleep – for example, they might be interested in not staying up late on their phones or not using them in the middle of their lives. the night.
"These findings suggest the need for more research to understand how digital communication versus face-to-face social interactions influence mood disorders and suicide outcomes, and to develop specialized interventions for HIV / AIDS groups. 39, age younger, "she said.
As the increase in mental health problems has been most acute after 2011, Twenge thinks that it is probably due to genetic or economic issues, but rather to sudden cultural changes, such as changes in the how adolescents and young adults spend their time outside. work and school. If that is the case, it could be good news, she said.
"Young people can not change their genetics or the economic situation of the country, but they can choose how they spend their free time.The first and most important thing is to get enough sleep.Make sure that the use of your device does not interfere with sleep – – do not keep phones or tablets in the room at night and drop appliances less than an hour after bedtime, "she said. "Overall, ensure that the use of digital media does not interfere with activities that are more beneficial to mental health, such as face-to-face social interactions," he said. exercise and sleep. "
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Material provided by American Association of Psychology. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.
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