A new study has found that five times as many high school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues as youth of the same age who were studied in the Great Depression era.
The findings, culled from responses to a popular psychological questionnaire used as far back as 1938, confirm what counselors on campuses nationwide have long suspected as more students struggle with the stresses of school and life in general. "It's another piece of the puzzle — that yes, this does seem to be a problem, that there are more young people who report anxiety and depression," says Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor and the study's lead author. "The next question is: What do we do about it?"
Though the study, released Monday, does not provide a definitive correlation, Twenge and mental health professionals speculate that a popular culture increasingly focused on the external — from wealth to looks and status — has contributed to the uptick in mental health issues.
Pulling together the data for the study was no small task. Led by Twenge, researchers at five universities analyzed the responses of 77,576 high school or college students who, from 1938 through 2007, took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, or MMPI. The results will be published in a future issue of the Clinical Psychology Review.
Overall, an average of five times as many students in 2007 surpassed thresholds in one or more mental health categories, compared with those who did so in 1938. A few individual categories increased at an even greater rate — with six times as many scoring high in two areas:
• "hypomania," a measure of anxiety and unrealistic optimism (from 5 percent of students in 1938 to 31 percent in 2007) • and depression (from 1 percent to 6 percent).
Twenge said the most current numbers may even be low given all the students taking antidepressants and other psychotropic medications, which help alleviate symptoms the survey asks about.
The study also showed increases in "psychopathic deviation," which is loosely related to psychopathic behavior in a much milder form and is defined as having trouble with authority and feeling as though the rules don't apply to you. The percentage of young people who scored high in that category increased from 5 percent in 1938 to 24 percent in 2007.
Twenge previously documented the influence of pop culture pressures on young people's mental health in her 2006 book "Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before." Several studies also have captured the growing interest in being rich, with 77 percent of those questioned for UCLA's 2008 national survey of college freshmen saying it was "essential" or "very important" to be financially well off.
Experts say such high expectations are a recipe for disappointment. Meanwhile, they also note some well-meaning but overprotective parents have left their children with few real-world coping skills, whether that means doing their own budget or confronting professors on their own.
"If you don't have these skills, then it's very normal to become anxious," says Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City who hopes the new study will be a wake-up call to those parents. Students themselves point to everything from pressure to succeed — self-imposed and otherwise — to a fast-paced world that's only sped up by the technology they love so much.
Sarah Ann Slater, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Miami, says she feels pressure to be financially successful, even when she doesn't want to.
"The unrealistic feelings that are ingrained in us from a young age — that we need to have massive amounts of money to be considered a success — not only lead us to a higher likelihood of feeling inadequate, anxious or depressed, but also make us think that the only value in getting an education is to make a lot of money, which is the wrong way to look at it," says Slater, an international studies major who plans to go to graduate school overseas.
The study is not without its skeptics, among them Richard Shaflower power, a psychologist who directs the counseling center at Pace University in New York. He says, for instance, that the sample data weren't necessarily representative of all college students. (Many who answered the MMPI questionnaire were students in introductory psychology courses at four-year institutions.)
Shaflower power says his own experience leaves little doubt more students are seeking mental health services. But he and others think that may be due in part to heightened awareness of such services. Twenge notes the MMPI isn't given only to those who seek services.
Others, meanwhile, say the research helps advance the conversation with hard numbers.
"It actually provides some support to the observations," says Scott Hunter, director of pediatric neuropsychology at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital. Before his current post, Hunter was at the University of Virginia, where his work included counseling a growing number of students with mental health concerns. While even Twenge concedes more research is needed to pinpoint a cause, Hunter says the study "also helps us understand what some of the reasons behind it might be." He notes Twenge's inclusion of data showing that factors such as materialism among young people have had a similar upswing. She also noted that divorce rates for their parents have gone up, which may lead to less stability.
Amid it all, Hunter says this latest generation has been raised in a "you can do anything atmosphere." And that, he says, "sets up a lot of false expectation" that inevitably leads to distress for some. It's also meant heartache for parents.
"I don't remember it being this hard," says a mother from northern New Jersey, whose 15-year-old daughter is being treated for depression. She asked not to be identified to respect her daughter's privacy.
"We all wanted to be popular, but there wasn't this emphasis on being perfect and being super skinny," she says. "In addition, it's 'How much do your parents make?' "I'd like to think that's not relevant, but I can't imagine that doesn't play a role."
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: KennyYi on January 12, 2010, 05:57:48 PM
.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: kinjo on January 12, 2010, 05:59:41 PM
seriously! *cuts*
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 12, 2010, 08:59:22 PM
YAY Generation ME! Thats what I've been seeing, and I admit I am caught up in it a good deal.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 13, 2010, 03:49:08 PM
Well I don't expect most of you to read this but......
Addy’s Response:
Welcome to the world created by both the media and the generation before us. All emotions and ideals are rooted back to young age. During the first 2-5 years of age, a child is learns its most. Children undergo five stages of development: physical, mental, moral, social, and emotional. Since those years are when the brain is most active, those are also the years most of a child’s beliefs and foundations form. It is up to the adults in that child’s life to influence them positively, and expose them to things that will hold their foundation strong all through life.
Now take these young and innocent children, and expose them to the world. Models on TV, shows and the relatively new advances in plastic surgery creating picture perfect celebrities that become these children’s idols. Even a look at the toys these kids are playing with, shows that from a young age children are being taught materialism. For example, Barbie, who became a huge fascination among young girls and was incredibly popular in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, has proportions, that if given to real life girls, would cause extreme health problems and inability to walk, among other things. This becomes a child’s idea of what a girl is supposed to look like. For boys, they have GI Joe, an action figure that from first created to more recent years has gotten increasingly more muscular and masculine. This has the same effect on boys as Barbie has on girls. These are only examples, but there is so much that people and children are exposed to throughout their whole lives, which say 10, 20, 30 years ago weren’t as emphasized.
Furthermore, as I have said each and every time you have posted your age discrimination-related posts, and keep in mind the article also states this, the divorce rate has increased dramatically and this creates an environment different and with less support. It can shake the lives of children who experience divorce, as they are exposed to arguments, fighting, and extreme hostility. Furthermore, a lot of parents out of anger, blame their children for the separation. I speak from experience in this field, because my dad is constantly screaming that if he never had kids he’d be happy and his wife would still want to be with him and life would be beautiful, he would be happy and wealthy, with no interference in his life from children. My mom certainly isn’t leaving him because of us, and I can’t imagine how my younger brother feels about himself and his family when he hears this, being at such a young influential age himself. Having a stable family life is just as important in the emotional and mental health of a child as all other things.
The amount of pressure to succeed parents place on their children, in the academic world, along with the social world, creates a rift in the parent-child relationship, and sets both parent and child up for disappointment, when the child does one of two things: 1) Feels so much pressure and that they will never meet their parents’ expectations that they just give up, or 2) Cause the child to feel constantly overwhelmed and work constantly to meet those expectations, but give up an ever important to have social life.
Children are also more often exposed to drugs and alcohol, which causes impairment in the immune system. Drinking kills cells and dehydrates the body, making the immune system work twice as hard to repair the damages done. It also causes children to embarrass themselves, or feel guilty for doing something they know their parents wouldn’t approve of, or can cause a feeling of being pressured by peers. All cause anxiety. Drugs work in a similar way, as they cause the body to work harder, and wreak havoc on the young developing body. Even pot, whether is be medical or just for fun, causes the body to be overwhelmed and work harder than usual. Every drug, emphasis on every, causes side effects. The only reason we use drugs in the medical world is because the positives outweigh the negatives. Recreational drugs are doing nothing but providing an escape, therefore they do nothing to improve the body. Even medical pot isn’t healing in the least; it’s used as a pain reliever.
Another cause of stress is finances, as children watch their parents struggle to make ends meet, and some even feel the need to work to support their parents and families. Especially as we head straight into a recession, that is being predicted to become a depression. Times are more like the Great Depression now then they have been in any of the years since the Great Depression, so it’s only fitting that it be compared to the situation. Think about it; war, loss of jobs, lack of trust in banks and the government, increased poverty, increased foreclosures, people are pretty much living on the edge.
As far as the results from this test, you have to realize that mental health wasn’t studied as a serious medical condition until recent years and there have been incredible strives forward. Some people with mental instability in the past may not have been identified as having such because we didn’t have the knowledge to link them to it, like we do now. This past generation has made strives in mental studies, so it only makes sense that more people would be indentified as having a disorder, and for this reason, it can easily be stated that your generation and past generations have or have had just as much mental instability as this generation, we just didn’t have knowledge of it, as we do today.
I’m sure you are familiar with the phrase “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” no? Well all these stresses are just a test to weed out the weak, and I’ll admit, that this generation is definitely stressed, but in the end we will have more experiences and understandings of things that you can’t relate to. Just the fact that you constantly discriminate against this generation proves your lack of experience that is needed for you to truly emphasize and relate to us on a field that would make you understand from our perspective what we feel and what is occurring. Depression doesn’t last forever, so everyone depressed now, will pull out of it just fine. What will you have left then? A whole generation of those who understand on a deeper level the emotional processes and feelings, and a stronger ability to empathize. For these reasons, I can say with confidence that I think in this generation’s older years, we will be much stronger and stable than your generation ever was or will be.
^.^
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 13, 2010, 10:39:01 PM
its good kids learn to brush their teeth at such an early age! GO HYGIENE!
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 13, 2010, 11:52:15 PM
=P totally knew that censorship would make everyone take my response less seriously.. xD
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 14, 2010, 12:21:59 AM
I read it all, the word filter didn't ruin your take on things at all =P
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 01:37:44 AM
=P haha... well i figured you would read it... Not many others though..
I'm waiting for the TL;DR replies
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 14, 2010, 02:10:27 AM
maybe its too much for them to scroll thru to make a TL;DR reply
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 02:23:45 AM
xD its actually a few words longer than the article
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: wurm breeder on January 14, 2010, 02:30:26 PM
What was censored?
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 04:00:08 PM
m0ral; when you type to word 0ral you get oral
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Wesker on January 14, 2010, 06:09:34 PM
Oh, Kinjo. You should be head of the FCC. [marvwave]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 06:35:50 PM
Why? o.o
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Wesker on January 14, 2010, 07:03:41 PM
Because his censorship is the best ever.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 07:33:49 PM
eheheh type b0ssy
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: kinjo on January 14, 2010, 08:06:34 PM
[win]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 08:07:47 PM
xD I totally knew he wouldnt read my LONG response
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: kinjo on January 14, 2010, 08:21:17 PM
he is very bad! [taz]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 08:22:14 PM
You are who i was talking about.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: kinjo on January 14, 2010, 08:23:27 PM
ooooooooooooooooooh i read it though [music] i gots no comment
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 09:02:56 PM
That works ^.^
[cmon2]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: kinjo on January 14, 2010, 09:04:53 PM
[ele]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 14, 2010, 09:20:27 PM
[heart]
That is my post. My entire post.. That is all it is.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: kinjo on January 15, 2010, 09:08:37 AM
and nothing but the post, so help me bunnies
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 15, 2010, 09:42:07 AM
[bun;]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: black death on January 16, 2010, 04:08:43 PM
This topic is now a dead topic. Let us all use it for unimportant conversation.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 16, 2010, 05:42:29 PM
Can we use it for discussion about topics becoming dead and thus being used for unimportant conversation?
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: black death on January 16, 2010, 06:18:44 PM
Yes.
Dead topics are smelly. [shit]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 16, 2010, 06:45:15 PM
I think they smell like flowers :3
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: wurm breeder on January 17, 2010, 01:49:52 PM
Potatoes smell like flowers.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 17, 2010, 02:59:59 PM
So does FW! =D I read a topic about it.
It was called "FW will always smell like flowers!"
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 17, 2010, 03:01:36 PM
Yush! I do its true! [clefairy]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 17, 2010, 03:16:55 PM
=D See? Flowers!
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 17, 2010, 04:11:30 PM
I’m sure you are familiar with the phrase “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” no? Well all these stresses are just a test to weed out the weak, and I’ll admit, that this generation is definitely stressed, but in the end we will have more experiences and understandings of things that you can’t relate to. Just the fact that you constantly discriminate against this generation proves your lack of experience that is needed for you to truly emphasize and relate to us on a field that would make you understand from our perspective what we feel and what is occurring. Depression doesn’t last forever, so everyone depressed now, will pull out of it just fine. What will you have left then? A whole generation of those who understand on a deeper level the emotional processes and feelings, and a stronger ability to empathize. For these reasons, I can say with confidence that I think in this generation’s older years, we will be much stronger and stable than your generation ever was or will be.
^.^
well while i can agree and understand with most of your reasonings and how you can come to your opinions and conclusions, what still amazes me and kinjo and even our parents and their parents generation is, the assumption that yes while this economy sucks and things are bad and things are tough on more people than quite awile for america.
to understand what anyone is talking about when trying to compare our current hardships to any hardships incured on this country before the 1950's is So obnoxious and apples and oranges that the only way i can begin comparisons to try show people the real gaps of how well people still have it right now is to first start out that Try to picture the idea that a 15 Cent package of ramen per day per person would still be better than what 30% of people had for their daily consumption from 1930-1935, Try to picture the idea that not only might one poor homeless person be lucky to have only One Full suit of cothes that is one shirt one pants one underwear shoes socks ect to anything normal that your wearing but that they are likly torn used previously warn, and lucky to be washed once a month let alone weekly like most of our clothings are, Try to Believe that the Kids were more pressured and forced than at any point in human kind because the father only made 1$ an hour if he was lucky and the family needed every penny it could possibly make and the kids would do what they could earning 5 cents an hour and the family as a whole no matter how young knew it had to do what it was to put any food on the table and survive.
yes people are hurting and yes incomes are being cut and people are going through hardships but this america is so different that hardships cant be really known untill fastfood is non existant because no one can afford it, no one drinks pop or buys from convient stores because 1$ + for each snack item again is somthing not afforded by the average american and not by choice, and that our every day luxuries that we all have for granted from the Water faucet to the bathroom to our baths and showers untill the day where no one can afford gas for their cars heat their homes, pay for our electricity and water when over half of america can survive and manage or be forced to attempt to with everything ive listed only then can we begin to attempt to compare ourselves with the hardships generations had and manage to live with and they did and did it strongly it is probably the only way one learns how to be productive with their life and really figure out the values of the world and build somthing strong and productive and it is the america we have lost.
Now also a side topic on this whole america breakdown too while not completely trying to take a religious side to these problems alot of the marital issues america is dealing with right now as far as divorce rates and problems suffered by kids in all of this comes down to a Populace that is disrigarding the moral value and importance of life, if we didnt abort children if we vauled relationships and were responsible for our actions things wouldnt be so commonly bad as they commonly are in society today, Now im not going to say its intirly because of the Breakdowns of religion or that being more religious would solve all these problems that can only be solved by yourselves and being motivated to being a moral and caring person, but understand God and jesus laid down a simple path for man kind to all be great kind respectful and know life to its fullest to the bare sole and he never wanted us to suffer the moral ethics humankind challenges itself with nowdays god but gave us the freedom to be ourselves and it is then up to ourselves to own up when we disregard life, sanctity, and are greedy for ourselves about anything.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 18, 2010, 05:48:30 AM
In a debate religion should never be brought up as an argument so any mentioning of God are going disregarded. All I have to say to that, is Christianity is not the only religion that would help create better m0rals and that having any strong faith will improve your feelings towards yourself and other people.
In regards to your disapproval of comparing now to then, you mistook it for what it was; I did not say times are as bad as then, I said that there is a good chance it could become like that, and that many economists predict this to occur. My dad has is an econ major, and I have to listen to this stuff all the time, so I have the facts to back up the hypothesis. Furthermore, yes their income may have been $1 a day, but look at the differences in price. It looks like nothing, but back then a dollar went a long way. When you look at different time periods, you have to look at the economy as a whole, not just a portion of it like the wages. This goes even for today. My example would be comparing where I live to California. The cost of living I'm sure is much higher than what it is here, but in the same respect, the wages are better too. So when it would look ridiculously high to me, people in the area don't think it's all that bad. I was not saying we have gotten to that point, but it is a possibility and it's scaring people. Also, never in our lifetime have we witnessed things of this sort, so it comes off to us as something much worse than in would our grandparents.
The argument, however is not "who had it worse?" but and argument of how inexperienced was the person put into a bad situation. If our grandparents were to witness political and economical disaster, due to having lived it once before, it wouldn't hit them as hard as the youth of the nation, simply because of experience. This is not to say older people are any more stable than the young, or any better in any way, but that they aren't forced into so much shock. For example, in my household there have been days in the week where didn't couldn't be afforded, and therefore dinner was not served. For me, because I've lived this way for a long time now, it's whatever, but take a financially stable family and tell them they have to miss out on meals, and they think its ludicrous, or telling a wealthier person to go clothes shopping in a thrift store, or any used clothing store. While some would think it's a great inexpensive way to clothe yourself and your family, others would question the hygienics and be disgusted by the fact someone would buy the clothing of others and then wear it. Everything is based on experiences, and this cannot be judged on a general level, or in simpler terms, you cannot generalize the experiences of people, and therefore cannot stereotype them as that which seems to be occurring.
When I see Kinjo post these things, it comes off to be that Kinjo feels he has something to prove for both his generation and age, as if to say to the younger members "Haha emos, I'm older and I'm better!" When Kinjo himself has displayed some questionable mood swings that could be taken as emotional instability. It seems to me like hypocrisy. It's all a big age discrimination game.
Basically, the mind is prepared for far greater things by being exposed to less severe yet seemingly similar situations. It's like giving a child an allowance of $5 and not buying anything for them. It teaches them budgeting, but if they screw up there are minor consequences, while if that child was never exposed to any sort of understanding to money, they could find themselves in a situation at an older age where they are in severe debt, and it brings about heavy amounts of stress because the situation is too unfamiliar. Parents and adults failed to prepare children for experiences they would have to face, or taking blame off everyone, due to new technologies and pressures, there are situations that cause stress, that parents and adults never experienced themselves and therefore cannot teach. A prime example of this would be the s3xting situation that resulted in that young girl's suicide. Girls are pressured to expose themselves, and cell phones make it transfer of information easier. Parents are not used to cell phones and texting, and therefore cannot teach children about these things, so neither is prepared for the consequences.
This generation isn't any worse than any other generation. The real difference is that the people that are parenting us never went through major struggles like their parents had or for the ones that did, they were too young for it to really effect them, so they take more things for granted and have less experience to pass down to the next generation. It's simple psychology.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: wurm breeder on January 18, 2010, 09:57:28 AM
In a debate religion should never be brought up as an argument so any mentioning of God are going disregarded.
Why?
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 18, 2010, 10:24:46 AM
Because debates are firmly based on fact and proven information, and not all debaters go by the same religion. It is too opinionated and there is not enough evidence to prove any religion true; in actual tournaments, using religion usually makes you lose the match. Debates needs facts, research, proven information, and statistics; not religion.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: wurm breeder on January 18, 2010, 11:01:12 AM
But are there not facts and proven information about religion, and aren't differences what debate is about? Also, I thought we were going by backyard debate rules, not tourny rules. I'm gonna have to put away my brass knuckles.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 18, 2010, 02:01:59 PM
Ehh, I'm on the debate team, haha, and rules like that are strict. Religion is a personal choice and debate is only about a single difference, and that would be whatever the topic at hand would be. Bringing religion into it is bringing in a whole other debate.
And no, most religion is not based on fact, however strongly one might think it is.
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 18, 2010, 08:38:49 PM
unless its a debate regarding a religious topic of discussion!
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 18, 2010, 09:44:26 PM
Yar, but that goes along with: "debate is only about a single difference, and that would be whatever the topic at hand would be."
That would be the topic at hand. =D
Yays!!!
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 19, 2010, 01:39:08 AM
so you cant use religion to debate about a religious topic? [psyduck]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 19, 2010, 01:41:00 AM
No no, if the debate is about religion you can use religion, but you need facts to back up and support your theories as to why that religion is whatever you are trying to prove.
You can't use religion in any other debate, however. Is big boo boo =o
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 19, 2010, 01:48:54 AM
but how can religion perpetuate itself if it cant be used in real world discussions?!
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 19, 2010, 05:47:50 AM
it can be used in discussion, but shouldn't be used in debate... I mean, how annoying would it be to go "Why why is the sky blue?" and receive the answer "It was God's will" Instead of an explanation about the reflection of light?
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Flashwerewolf on January 19, 2010, 07:51:24 PM
true! I agree with that! [angel]
Title: Re: Study: Youth now have more mental health issues
Post by: Adelaide on January 19, 2010, 07:54:12 PM
:3 then this is settled and Tkoold's use of religion in a debate that is not related to religion is invalid =D