American Psychological Association. (2021, March 11). Young Americans continue to struggle. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/one-year-pandemic-stress-youth
Gen Z adults (46%) were the most likely generation to say that their mental health has worsened compared with before the pandemic.
Stress in AmericaTM 2020: A National Mental Health Crisis, released in October, revealed that “Gen Z teens (ages 13–17) and Gen Z adults (ages 18–23) were facing unprecedented uncertainty, experiencing elevated stress and already reporting symptoms of depression.” This new survey finds Gen Z adults are also doing worse mentally and physically than other generations.
Gen Z adults (46%) were the most likely generation to say that their mental health has worsened compared with before the pandemic, followed by Gen Xers (33%), Millennials (31%), Boomers (28%) and older adults (9%). Another challenge for Gen Z adults is feeling isolated. Around half of U.S. adults (47%) agreed they have felt very lonely during the coronavirus pandemic, but Gen Z adults (65%) and Millennials (62%) were more likely than their older counterparts to report this (Xers: 41%, Boomers: 33%, older adults: 20%).
Younger generations also were more likely to say they could have used more emotional support than they received since the pandemic started, with Gen Z adults nearly four times as likely as older adults to report this (Gen Z adults: 79%, Millennials: 75%, Xers: 54%, Boomers: 40%, older adults: 21%). When it comes to receiving treatment, Millennials were most likely to have received treatment from a mental health professional (32%) or to have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder (23%) since the start of the pandemic.
The reported physical impacts on younger adults are significant, with nearly 3 in 4 Gen Z adults (74%) and a similar proportion of Millennials (70%) reporting unwanted weight changes since the pandemic started, compared with 58% of Xers, 52% of Boomers and 30% of older adults. More specifically, 52% of Gen Z adults reported gaining more weight than they wanted to, as did 48% of Millennials. Among those who gained more weight than desired, Millennials on average reported the highest amount of weight gained (average of 41 pounds, median of 20 pounds), followed by Gen Z adults (average of 28 pounds, median of 15 pounds), Xers (average of 21 pounds, median of 15 pounds) and Boomers (average of 16 pounds, median of 10 pounds).
How young adults can build resilience
- Create meaningful opportunities for connections with family, culture and community. Although many young adults have left home physically, these connections remain fundamental to youth well-being.
- Create traditions that celebrate important milestones like graduation and weddings in new ways and are still meaningful.
- Get regular sleep. Pick a bedtime and try to stick with it (avoid the temptation to stay up late because you don’t have to commute to work or school in the morning).
- Move a little bit more. Attach activity goals to a specific time of day (e.g., pledge to walk 500 steps before breakfast). Small activities throughout the day add up— and if you miss one, you’ve got another goal later in the day you can still try to meet.
