Why Youth Mental Health is Declining

Youth mental health has steadily declined in the years prior to and following the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the worst affected are pre-teen boys and teenage girls, according to the August 2024 report, “A Nation’s Children At Risk,” published by the Center for Applied Research in Education at the University of Southern California. According to the study, teen girls were more than three times as likely to experience abnormal levels of emotional symptoms compared to the other three groups: pre-teen girls, pre-teen boys and teen boys. The study also found that for the fall 2023 semester, students who were chronically absent from school were also three times more likely to be experiencing mental health issues.

Researchers asked parents and caregivers questions about their children’s emotional symptoms, behavior, peer relationships, school attendance, grades and wellbeing, among other topics.. However, the study didn’t ask families to report on the causes behind declines in mental health. COVID-19 disruptions and continued academic learning loss have created “tons of pressures for these kids that are different from the pressures that existed before,” said Amie Rapaport, a co-author of the study and research scientist at USC.

It’s important to note that mental health among certain groups is declining more rapidly than other groups, but equally as important to “understand the causes are likely to be different for individual children,” said Morgan Polikoff, a co-author of the study and professor of education at USC. “We don’t want to imply that it’s one or two things that’s causing this crisis…it’s multifaceted.” Researchers and advocates pointed to school-based mental health services and student-led advocacy programs, like resources from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Youth Mental Health Corps initiative, as some of the ways to help students experiencing mental health challenges.

For Rishika Rohatgi, the report’s findings are familiar. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rohatgi noticed the increased loneliness and isolation among her peers, on top of the academic, extracurricular and social pressures they were already experiencing as teenagers. So she and a friend started a mental health awareness club at their high school. After they participated in their school’s activity fair, 50 students joined. “We saw such a positive reaction almost immediately,” said Rohatgi, a former NAMI Next Gen Advisor. While no professional mental health services were offered through the club, it created a space for an open-ended dialogue between students. “Students really need advocacy that is for students and by students,” she said.

Rohatgi highlighted the importance of creativity when approaching students about mental health difficulties. For example, on Valentine’s Day, students in her club decided to write love letters to themselves “to highlight the traits of themselves that they loved.” Rohatgi’s club often found success with activities, like the love letters, that “boost mental wellness, but don’t explicitly say that they’re boosting mental wellness,” she said. “Our club was not therapy,” Rohatgi emphasized, “but we found that when students were helping others with their mental health, they were talking about how that in itself was helping their mental health as well.”

Allison Green
Boston Tutoring Services