澳大利亚一项基于近27万份调查数据的研究显示，年轻人的心理健康状况确实出现了恶化，但这一现象的成因更为复杂。[1]研究发现，16-24岁青少年报告心理健康问题的比例从2007年的约25%上升到2020-22年的近40%。[1]同时，英国17-19岁人群患"可能心理障碍"的比例也从2017年的十分之一上升到三年内的六分之一。[1]
该研究基于澳大利亚家庭、收入和劳动力动态调查，对2001年以来相同家庭的年度数据进行了跟踪分析。[1]研究人员发现，部分心理健康恶化的迹象源于代际间对困境的报告意愿差异。[1]最年轻的女性（2001-2008年出生）对心理困扰的容忍度更低，更愿意坦诚自己在挣扎，相比十年或二十年前同龄女性需要"远少得多的问题就会说自己处于困境"。[1]
即使排除代际报告差异的影响，年轻女性的实际心理健康状况仍然明显恶化。[1]数据显示，63%的最年轻女性报告心理健康状况不佳，而基于生活环境预测的数字为49%，两者间的14个百分点差异正反映了代际报告行为的不同。[1]更正这一差异后，不同人生阶段的心理健康模式显示在40多岁时出现上升，退休期逐渐缓解，这与数十个国家记录的典型中年幸福感下降趋势相符。[1]
An Australian research analysis of nearly 270,000 survey responses spanning 2002 to 2023 reveals a more nuanced picture of youth mental health than headlines suggest [1]. While the data confirms that young people are indeed experiencing worse mental health outcomes, the deterioration is partly attributable to generational differences in how willing people are to report psychological distress [1].
The research, drawing on the Australian Household, Income and Labour Dynamics survey, found that reported mental health problems among Australians aged 16-24 surged from approximately 25% in 2007 to nearly 40% between 2020 and 2022 [1]. Similarly, in the UK, the proportion of 17-19-year-olds with probable mental disorders rose from one in ten in 2017 to one in six within three years [1]. However, the study identified a critical factor: the youngest generation of women, born between 2001 and 2008, requires "far fewer problems" before reporting themselves as struggling compared to women of the same age a decade or two earlier [1].
When researchers adjusted for this reporting difference, the underlying pattern shifted. Among the youngest women, 63% reported poor mental health based on their circumstances, but statistical modeling predicted this figure would be 49% when accounting for environmental factors alone—a 14-percentage-point gap reflecting generational reporting variance [1]. Even after correcting for these intergenerational differences, the data showed that actual mental health does deteriorate, particularly among young women [1]. The corrected analysis revealed a typical life-course pattern in which psychological well-being generally declines around middle age and then improves during retirement, consistent with findings from dozens of countries worldwide [1].
