Mental health in adolescence: Is America's youth flourishing?

TLDR

The study proposes and applies a continuous and categorical assessment of adolescent mental health—labeling flourishing versus languishing—using subjective well‑being items from the second wave of the Child Development Supplement of the PSID, with 1,234 youths aged 12‑18. It found that flourishing was most common among 12‑14‑year‑olds, moderate mental health prevailed among 15‑18‑year‑olds, and higher mental health correlated with lower depressive symptoms, fewer conduct problems, and better psychosocial functioning. These results underscore the importance of positive mental health in future research on adolescent development.

Abstract

A continuous assessment and a categorical diagnosis of the presence of mental health, described as flourishing, and the absence of mental health, characterized as languishing, are proposed and applied to data from the second wave of the Child Development Supplement (CDS-II) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), in which a comprehensive set of subjective well-being items were administered to a sample of 1,234 youth ages 12-18. Flourishing was the most prevalent diagnosis among youth ages 12-14; moderate mental health was the most prevalent diagnosis among youth ages 15-18. Depressive symptoms decreased as mental health increased. Prevalence of conduct problems (arrested, skipped school, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and marijuana use) also decreased and measures of psychosocial functioning (global self-concept, self-determination, closeness to others, and school integration) increased as mental health increased. Findings suggest the importance of positive mental health in future research on adolescent development.