What’s behind the rise in youth anxiety and depression?

It’s well known that levels of anxiety and depression in youth are on the rise. While some of this increase may be because of other things, such as a lowering of the threshold for what counts as clinically relevant symptoms and decreased stigma when it comes to seeking out mental health services, there seems little debate that the number of children and adolescents who are actually struggling with their mental health is taking a sharp turn for the worse.

Dr. David C. Rettew

What is much less certain are the causes behind this surge. The answer to this important question will likely defy a clear answer from a definitive study. In its place then are a number of different theories that have been circulated and discussed. Each comes with some evidence to support the hypothesis, but none seems able to make a truly compelling argument as the single driving force behind this trend. This column briefly describes and examines some of the factors that may be contributing to the rise in anxiety and depression while providing some explanation for why each factor is unlikely to be the sole culprit.

Some of the biggest suggested causes for the rise in child and adolescent mental health problems include the following:

• COVID. Multiple studies have documented increases in mood and anxiety associated with the pandemic, which in turn, may be because of a number of factors such as social isolation, loss of family members, family financial stressors, and many other contributors.¹ Yet, while it certainly makes sense that COVID is a powerful instigator of mood and anxiety problems, there is good evidence that the upward tic in emotional-behavioral problems began well before the COVID pandemic.²
• Smartphones. In 2017, psychologist Jean Twenge penned a provocative essay in the Atlantic with the title “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” and the basic answer was yes.³ The foundation for this conclusion was the tracking between the rise in mood and anxiety problems and the meteoric rise of smartphone use in youth. None of these associations, however, can be proven as casual, and more experimental data on the link between smartphone usage and mental health have been inconsistent.
• Bullying. The toxic effect of bullying and, in particular, online or “cyberbullying” has frequently been brought up as a potential cause. Yet while the negative effects of bullying have been well documented, there is evidence that overall bullying has actually decreased over recent years.⁴

These three factors have arguably been the most discussed, but a few others also probably deserve mention.

• Helicopter parenting. Critics of this common and increasingly popular approach to parenting are concerned that all the parental hovering and stepping in convey the message that the world is a very dangerous place while depriving children of opportunities to gain the exposure and competence they need to succeed. The critique is certainly logical and even has been supported in some studies but lacks the needed evidence for a more definitive conclusion.⁵
• Medications. Of course there will be stories blaming the mental health treatment itself, rather than the reasons people seek treatment, for this disturbing trend. And while it is always important to consider that medications can be part of the problem rather than the solution, the majority of evidence points overall to a lack of treatment rather than too much. A recent important study, for example, found that the peak of suicidal thoughts and behaviors occurred a month before medications were started, rather than after.⁶
• Cannabis. While there seems to be a lot of geographic variability with regard to whether or not the number of youth using cannabis is increasing or not, it’s clear that the product now being consumed is considerably stronger than what was used in decades past. This high-potency cannabis now being used has been shown to increase the risk for later mental health problems including psychosis and suicidal behavior.⁷ Unfortunately, these risks are not being heard as a powerful industry fights to increase their market share.