{"id":15073,"date":"2026-03-18T11:55:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/?p=15073"},"modified":"2026-03-18T12:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:20:16","slug":"a-sharp-increase-in-mental-disorders-among-youth-has-been-recorded-since-the-pandemic-results-of-a-31-year-global-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/a-sharp-increase-in-mental-disorders-among-youth-has-been-recorded-since-the-pandemic-results-of-a-31-year-global-study\/","title":{"rendered":"A sharp increase in mental disorders among youth has been recorded since the pandemic: Results of a 31-year global study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"3\">Scientists from The Ohio State University and Beijing Tiantan Hospital have published a large-scale study analyzing the mental health status of young people aged 10 to 24 between 1990 and 2021. The research, published in the journal <i data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"233\">Molecular Psychiatry<\/i>, confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic served as a pivotal and critical tipping point for the psycho-emotional well-being of adolescents.<\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"4\">Key Findings of the 31-Year Study<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\">The extensive observation revealed that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issue among modern youth, followed by behavioral disorders, depression, and autism spectrum conditions.<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"6\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6,0,0\">Adolescents (Ages 10\u201319): By 2021, 15.2% were affected by mental health disorders.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6,1,0\">Young Adults (Ages 20\u201324): The figures are even more concerning, reaching 16.1%.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"7\">The Pandemic Dynamic<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">The study identified a significant shift during the pandemic period (2019\u20132021). Rates of depression and anxiety spiked sharply, which researchers attribute to social isolation and prolonged uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">Conversely, there was an unexpected trend: the rate of Substance Use Disorders (SUD) decreased during the pandemic. This decline is likely linked to the ban on social gatherings and restricted access to substances.<\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"10\">Demographic and Regional Disparities<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11\">The research highlighted significant differences based on gender and geography:<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"12\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12,0,0\">Males: Higher prevalence of Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12,1,0\">Females: Dominance of eating disorders (specifically anorexia) and depressive states.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12,2,0\">Geography: Interestingly, the highest rates of mental health disorders were recorded in high-income countries.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"13\">Why Is This Research Important?<\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\">Scientists emphasize that mental disorders have become the leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life among young people. This underscores an urgent need for:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\" data-path-to-node=\"15\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15,0,0\">Age-appropriate interventions.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15,1,0\">Gender-sensitive strategies.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15,2,0\">Region-specific mental health policies.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16\">These findings will help governments better design prevention programs and create services that empower young people to cope effectively with periods of crisis.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41380-026-03503-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nature<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists from The Ohio State University and Beijing Tiantan Hospital have published a large-scale study analyzing the mental health status of young people aged 10 to 24 between 1990 and 2021. The research, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic served as a pivotal and critical tipping point for the psycho-emotional [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1631,1594,1665,1587,1657],"tags":[4811],"class_list":["post-15073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-neurology","category-news","category-public-health","category-research","category-science","tag-mental-disorders"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15078,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15073\/revisions\/15078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}