Why are young adults in Europe facing greater mental health challenges than older generations?

Euronews · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Young people globally are struggling to navigate life's challenges and to function effectively in their daily lives, according to a new study. Young adults in Europe score poorly compared to those on other continents, with several European countries ranking among the lowest in the world. The study by Sapien Labs, a United States-based non-profit working on understanding global mental health, measured a Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) through online surveys conducted across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. This assesses individuals’ “mind health” – defined as the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical capacities essential for thriving in life, work, and relationships. “The mind health crisis appears to be a progressive slide from generation to generation and goes far beyond rising rates of depression and anxiety in young adults,” said Tara Thiagarajan, the report’s lead author and Sapien Labs’ founder and chief scientist. Respondents evaluated essential capacities for daily challenges alongside major mental health disorders, reporting struggles with emotional control, handling relationships with others, and their ability to focus. “Young adults under 35, who were already struggling relative to their parents and grandparents before the COVID-19 pandemic, took a sharp nosedive during the pandemic from which they have never recovered,” Thiagarajan wrote in the study. Since the team began measuring MHQ in 2019, adults aged 55 and older have held steady around a score of 100, where a normal population is expected to be, according to the authors. By contrast, each younger generation scores lower. Those between 18 and 34 years old have an average of 36 MHQ, and 41 percent reported experiencing significant mental health challenges. How do European countries score? The study found that young people in sub-Saharan Africa – who live in the region with the lowest per capita income in the world – scored far better than those in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, and Australia, all of which were near the bottom of the rankings Italy is the highest-ranked European nation, in 20th place out of the 84 countries included in the study. Finland at 40, Portugal and Spain at 46, Belgium at 52, and France scored 58. Europe’s worst-ranked countries were: Ireland at 70, Germany at 71, and the United Kingdom at 81. “The surprising aspect of this decline in younger generations is that it is most pronounced in the wealthier and more developed countries, where increased spending on mental health care has not moved the needle,” Thiagarajan wrote. She added that, to solve this problem, it is key to tackle its root causes rather than simply treat the symptoms. What drives mental health struggles? The study identified four key factors that drive young people’s mental health status: family bonds, spirituality, smartphone use, and ultra-processed food consumption. Poor family relationships make young adults nearly four times more likely to score in the distressed or struggling ranges compared to those who are close to many family members. Participants with a strong sense of spirituality and connection to a higher power performed better than those who considered themselves not spiritual. The countries where young people feel less spiritual were Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Additionally, earlier access to the first smartphone correlates with worse mental health outcomes later in life, the study found. Across the globe, the average age at which Gen Z (18-24) got their first smartphone was 14, with country averages ranging from 9 in Finland to 18 in Tanzania and Uganda. In Europe, it ranged between 12 and 13 years of age. The consumption of ultra-processed foods has increased over the past 15 years, the study noted, and has been linked to 15 to 30 percent of the mental health burden. The authors noted that despite increased investment in mental health research and care across the world, the outcomes have not improved. “These patterns point clearly toward the need for upstream, structural change – focused not only on treatment, but on the environmental factors shaping young minds in the first place,” they wrote.