In recent days, the news has been circulating on social media and various information sites that today’s high school students have levels of anxiety comparable to those of patients admitted to mental asylums in the 1950s. This statement, however, is not correct: it derives from an excessive simplification of a study published by psychologist JM Twenge, a meta-analysis from which it emerges that the self-reported psychological distress between the two categories of people is comparable, but this is also due to socio-cultural factors that have changed a lot in recent decades, and does not allow us to directly compare the prevalence of mental disorders between today’s students and the psychiatric patients of the 1950s. In any case, there is no doubt that anxiety and depression among very young people are on the increase, as also confirmed by the official data provided by the WHO.
Anxiety and high school students: the JMTwenge study
The phrase is not entirely invented, but is the result of the simplification of real research; in particular, reference is made to a study entitled Birth Cohort Increases in Psychopathology Among Young Americans: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of the MMPI.
In this work, Twenge does not analyze “anxiety” generically, but indirectly uses the results of the MMPI-Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test, still widely used today to evaluate various psychopathological aspects. The study is configured as a cross-temporal meta-analysis: it means that the results of the MMPI, collected in different decades (from the 1950s to the 1990s) on young American students attending university, are compared. The aim is to understand how psychological traits change over time.
The results are stark: mean scores on MMPI scales associated with psychological distress, including anxiety, depression and emotional instability, have increased significantly in more recent generations.
The most cited (and often misunderstood) passage, however, is another. Twenge notes that:
- young people from more recent years obtain higher scores on various clinical scales;
- in some cases, these scores approach those that were typical of clinical samples in the 1950s.
This is probably where the perhaps imprecise comparison with “psychiatric patients” arises.
What psychological research doesn’t say
Twenge’s work is rigorous, but her interpretation in the media is often hyperbolized. In fact, the study does not state that today’s adolescents have “mental disorders as serious as mental hospital patients”, nor that there is clinical equivalence between the two populations.
What it shows is different and, admittedly, more subtle: Over time, average levels of self-reported psychological distress have increased, to the point that some indicators approach thresholds that, in the 1950s, were considered clinically relevant.
But there are important aspects to take into consideration:
- The MMPI measures traits and symptoms, it does not constitute a diagnosis: the test detects the presence of symptomatic manifestations and psychological tendencies (such as anxiety, depressed mood and emotional instability), but is not equivalent to a psychiatric diagnosis. Consequently, an increase in scores indicates a greater average level of perceived or reported distress, but does not mean that an equivalent proportion of young people suffer from clinically defined mental disorders.
- Cultural contexts have changed: for example in the 1950s, access to high schools was limited to a narrower segment of the population; interpreting the average scores between different eras can therefore be misleading, because they are representative of different social groups (despite referring to the same age group). Furthermore, the categories with which we define and interpret anxiety are not static: what is recognized and reported today as “anxiety” or “psychological distress” does not necessarily coincide with what was perceived and recognized as such in previous decades.
- Today there is less stigmatization of psychological distress and greater familiarity with the language of mental health. Individuals are therefore more likely to admit symptoms and difficulties in questionnaires, contributing to the increase in scores.
Real data from WHO: anxiety and depression among young people is on the rise
The picture that emerges from the study is clear: psychological distress among young people has grown. But what Twenge focuses on most is the fact that, unlike 1938 (the reference year for the study), external pressures have changed. The generational increase in anxiety and depression appears related to a general shift in priorities towards external factors, such as the possession of material goods and the judgment of others. In fact, the study finds that the scores linked to performance and the academic context are higher: in the 1950s completing a full school career was less common, education was less competitive and less decisive for the construction of individual identity and future work compared to today. Furthermore, in recent decades, although the quality of life has significantly improved, young people have developed the conviction that they are not able, like previous generations, to direct their future where they would most prefer.
Let’s move on to the real data. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1 in 7 adolescents suffer from a mental disorder and anxiety disorders are among the most common. If you look at the entire life span, the numbers become even more significant: almost 1 in 3 young people experience at least one form of anxiety disorder. To be precise:
- 5.3% of young people receive a diagnosis of anxiety disorder;
- 30% had a lifetime experience of clinically relevant anxiety.
As regards Italy, on the occasion of the 14th National Congress of the Italian Society of Psychiatry (SIPS) it was estimated that over 700 thousand young people suffer from disorders such as anxiety and depression, and over 74% of them experience it by the age of 24. But if we look beyond clinical diagnoses, the picture broadens: almost half of young Italians declare having experienced anxious symptoms or psychological distress, especially after the pandemic.
To conclude, Twenge’s study does not say that today’s youth are comparable to the asylum patients of the 1950s. This is a media simplification, effective but misleading. What it tells us, however, is that, over the decades, the average level of psychological distress among young people has increased significantly. An increase that cannot be explained by a single cause, but which seems to be intertwined with profound transformations in our social context: greater pressure on performance, higher and more widespread expectations, and an increasingly strong identification between personal value and what one can achieve (school, university, work). To make the picture worse: social media and constant comparison, uncertainty about the future and worse relational qualities.
In this sense, contemporary anxiety is not only an individual issue, but also the reflection of a cultural model that requires young people, and not only them, to constantly live up to it. We are not faced with a “pathological” generation, but one that certainly experiences a higher level of psychological tension.
