In 2019, a survey of young people in the United Kingdom found that for 94 percent of those surveyed, their self-esteem was affected when they struggled with their mental health. In addition, 84 percent of respondents felt mental health problems affected both their relationships and their education.

In 2019, a survey in the United Kingdom of individuals aged under 25 years found that 34 percent of respondents are quite unconfident of managing their mental health problems by themselves, with a further 28 percent saying they are very unconfident. Only 17 percent of respondents are confident to any extent of self-managing their mental health problems.

This report presents findings from the third (wave 3) in a series of follow up reports to the 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey, conducted in 2022. The sample includes 2,866 of the children and young people who took part in the MHCYP 2017 survey. The mental health of children and young people aged 7 to 24 years living in England in 2022 is examined, as well as their household circumstances, and their experiences of education, employment and services and of life in their families and communities. Comparisons are made with 2017, 2020 (wave 1) and 2021 (wave 2), where possible, to monitor changes over time.

In 2019, 77 percent of young people surveyed in the United Kingdom stated that pressure to do well in school or collage has had a significant impact on their mental health. Additionally, 69 percent of respondents say that worrying about how they looked caused an impact on their mental health.

This publication provides the most timely statistics available relating to NHS funded secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services in England. This information will be of use to people needing access to information quickly for operational decision making and other purposes. These statistics are derived from submissions made using version 3.0 of the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS). This edition includes final statistics for February 2019 and provisional statistics for March 2019. NHS Digital review the quality and completeness of the submissions used to create these statistics on an ongoing basis. More information about this work can be found in the Accuracy and reliability section of this report. Fully detailed information on the quality and completeness of particular statistics in this release is not available due to the timescales involved in reviewing submissions and engaging with data providers. The information that has been obtained at the time of publication is made available in the Provider Feedback sections of the Data Quality Reports which accompany this release. Information gathered after publication is released in future editions of this publication series. More detailed information on the quality and completeness of these statistics and a summary of how these statistics may be interpreted is made available later in our Mental Health Bulletin: Annual Report publication series. All elements of this publication, other editions of this publication series, and related annual publication series' can be found in the Related Links below. Please note: The Quarter 4 Children and Young People Receiving Second Contact With Services measure will not be included in the June 2019 publication. A validation of this data is currently underway; we expect statistics for the full 2018/19 financial year to be published in the July 2019 publication. Please note: The provider breakdown for AMH04 (People in contact with adult mental health services on CPA at the end of RP with HoNOS recorded) has not been included in this publication and will not be included in future publications until the cause is rectified. NHS Digital will inform users once this issue has been resolved. NHS Digital apologises for any inconvenience caused. Notice of data item removal from MHSDS: NHS Digital are looking into the possibility of removing the CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH TIER OF SERVICE (https://www.datadictionary.nhs.uk/data_dictionary/data_field_notes/c/ce/child_and_adolescent_mental_health_tier_of_service_de.asp) data element from MHSDS, to take effect from the April 2020 reporting period. If the data element is removed, national analysis will be carried out on the basis of an algorithm using existing information, including the patient’s derived age. This will remove a data item that is no longer relevant to common practice and help maintain focus on key remaining items. We are keen to understand the impact of removing this data element on organisations that currently receive a data extract including this field, or otherwise use data that will be impacted by its removal. If you have any concerns regarding the removal of this data element from MHSDS, please email NHS Digital at enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk giving us as much information as possible about the type of organisation you represent, and the impact that removal of the data element will have on your work. Please contact us by 17:00 Monday 10 June 2019 and use ‘FOA of DSDS – Consultation on CAMHS Tier data item’ as the subject line in any communications.

An online survey conducted in 2019 asked teens in the United States and the United Kingdom how Instagram had affected the way they feel about themselves and their mental health. Overall, 41 percent of U.S. teens and 46 percent of U.K. teens said that the social media platform had no effect on they way they felt about themselves. However, between twelve and 23 percent of teens said that the platform made them feel somewhat worse and between two and three percent of respondents stated that it had made them feel much worse.

In a 2019 survey of under 25 year olds in the United Kingdom, 50 percent of respondents said their friends were helpful in supporting them while waiting for mental health help, compared to 17 percent who said their friends were not helpful. On the other hand, 39 percent of respondents said that social workers were unhelpful, compared to 23 percent who thought they were helpful.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) is a ten-year (2015-2025) research programme, funded by UK Aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), that seeks to combine longitudinal data collection and a mixed-methods approach to understand the lives of adolescents in particularly marginalized regions of the Global South, and to uncover 'what works' to support the development of their capabilities over the course of the second decade of life, when many of these individuals will go through key transitions such as finishing their education, starting to work, getting married and starting to have children.
GAGE undertakes longitudinal research in seven countries in Africa (Ethiopia, Rwanda), Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal) and the Middle East (Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine). Sampling adolescent girls and boys aged between 10‐19‐year olds, the quantitative survey follows a global total of 18,000 adolescent girls and boys, and their caregivers and explores the effects that programme have on their lives. This is substantiated by in‐depth qualitative and participatory research with adolescents and their peers. Its policy and legal analysis work stream studies the processes of policy change that influence the investment in and effectiveness of adolescent programming.
Further information, including publications, can be found on the Overseas Development Institute GAGE website.


Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence: Ethiopia Round 2, 2019-2020 extends the GAGE quantitative research in Ethiopia for a second round. A sample of nearly 8,600 adolescent boys and girls was sought, including nearly 7,000 adolescents surveyed in an earlier Baseline round (available from the UK Data Archive under SN 8597), as well as approximately 1,600 new adolescents. The main purpose of this survey was to gather information on the lives of Ethiopian adolescents living in urban and rural locations in the Amhara, Oromiya, and Afar regions, and to understand their changing lives and challenges. At the time of data collection, adolescents were primarily aged 12-14 and 17-19. The sample includes both randomly and purposefully sampled adolescents, and their female caregivers were also surveyed where possible. The current data release includes information for the subset of individuals who are not part of an ongoing randomized evaluation of adolescent-centric programming. A total of nearly 5,000 adolescents and their caregivers are included in the current release.
Main Topics:

The Core Respondent (CR) dataset contains data from the survey administered to the CR and covers education, time allocation, paid work, health and nutrition, psychosocial and mental health, mobility and voice, social inclusion, marriage and relationships, financial inclusion and economic empowerment, and information and communication technologies.

The Adult Female (AF) dataset contains information on the household, including the household roster, family background, durable goods, dwelling characteristics, access to productive capital, recent positive and negative shocks, and household access to programs and support. In addition, the AF survey contains detailed information about the AF herself, such as parenting, health and nutrition, attitudes to gender equality, marriage, fertility and social norms.

The Youth Development Study (YDS) was initiated as a school-based study of adolescent children and their parents to examine the consequences of formative experiences in adolescence for mental health, value formation, educational achievement, and multiple facets of behavioral adjustment. Particular attention was directed to the impacts of early work experience. Data were also obtained about parent-child and peer relationships and experiences in school. As the study continued, the focus shifted to adult development and attainment and, most recently, mid-life adjustment and health. This comprehensive longitudinal study now encompasses three generations: the initial cohort studied from adolescence to mid-life (G2), their parents (G1), and their adolescent children (G3). Data from three generations in the same families enable study of intergenerational relationships and differences in the experience of adolescence and transition to adulthood across parent and child cohorts. The YDS covers a wide range of topics of interest to sociologists, social psychologists, developmental psychologists, and life course scholars, including the development and impacts of agentic resources, socioeconomic attainment, processes of inter- and intra-generational mobility, objective and subjective work conditions, family relationships, intergenerational relationships, mental and physical health, and well-being. In-school administration of paper surveys during the first four years of the study was supplemented by mailed surveys. Subsequent data collection took place entirely by mail, with 19 surveys conducted between 1988 and 2011. A final survey was conducted on-line in 2019. Survey data was obtained from the parents (G1) of this cohort during the first and fourth waves of the study (1988 and 1991). Surveys of the children (G3) began in 2009, continued in 2010 and 2011 (by mail) and in 2019-2020 (online). The Youth Development Study measures a wide range of formative experiences and both psychological and behavioral variables, using survey methodology. The G1 surveys obtained information about socioeconomic background as well as attitudes toward teenage employment, the parents' own employment as teenagers, their current work experiences, and educational expectations for their children. The G2 surveys during the high school years included detailed questions about students' work and volunteer experiences, as well as experiences in their family, school, and peer groups, with an emphasis on the ways that working affected other life domains, mental health, and well-being. Shorter surveys containing many of the same topics were administered to students in 1992, 1993, and 1994, and included questions about current family and living arrangements. In 1995, a full survey was administered covering the wide range of topics included in previous surveys as well as information about career plans and life events that had occurred in the past five years. G2 Waves 9 through 19 (1997-2011) included many of the same questions contained in earlier surveys and additional sections that focused on the respondents' educational experiences, family relationships, sources of living expenses, and health and well-being. The most recent G2 survey (2019), administered on-line, included questions about support of aging parents. The YDS is unique in its coverage of both objective and subjective work experiences from adolescence to mid-life. The topics covered by the G3 surveys are very similar to the G2 variables described above. Variables in each G2 and G3 wave are included in cross-wave codebooks, available at the Data Archive Codebook website. For an overview of the Youth Development Study, see Mortimer, Jeylan T. (2012) "The Evolution, Contributions, and Prospects of the Youth Development Study: An Investigation in Life Course Social Psychology." Social Psychology Quarterly 75(1, March):5-27.

In England and Wales, the definition of suicide is a death with an underlying cause of intentional self-harm or an injury or poisoning with undetermined intent. In 2022, the age group with the highest rate of suicide was for those aged 50 to 54 years at 15.3 deaths per 100,000. The age groups 45 to 49 years with 14.5 deaths per 100,000 population had the second highest highest rate of suicides in the UK. Gender difference in suicides The suicide rate among men in England and Wales in 2022 was around three times higher than for women, the figures being 16.4 per 100,000 population for men compared to 5.4 for women. Although among both genders the suicide rate increased in 2021 compared to 2020. Mental health in the UK Over 53 thousand people in England were detained under the Mental Health Act in the period 2020/21. Alongside this, there has also been an increase in the number of workers in Great Britain suffering from stress, depression or anxiety. In 2022/23, around 875 thousand workers reported to be suffering from these work-related issues.

The project generated several key findings, in line with the original project themes: 1) The project demonstrates that ethnic diversity alone does not appear to be a key driver of Brexit support, despite much of the public/political narrative in the area. Instead, we demonstrate that it is patterns of segregation which determine when diversity drove Brexit support. Thus, how increasing ethnic diversity of society appears to trigger tensions is in more segregated forms. Where diverse communities are integrated relations actually appear to improve. 2) The project uniquely demonstrates that residential segregation is a significant negative driver of mental health among ethnic minority groups in the UK. Mental health policy in the UK acknowledges that ethnic minorities often suffer worse mental health than their majority group counterparts. This work demonstrates that community characteristics need to be considered in mental health policy; in particular, how patterns of residential segregation are a key determinant of minority group mental health. 3) We demonstrate that, as expected, the ethnic mix of a community is a strong predictor of patterns of interethnic harassment. However, we also demonstrate that, even controlling for this, how residentially segregated an area is a stronger and consistent predictor of greater harassment. This will help societies better identify potential drivers of harassment and areas where focus should be on minimising hate crime. 4) The project demonstrates the key role sites of youth engagement can play in building positive intergroup relations among young people. In particular, their efficacy for overcoming key obstacles to integration such as residential segregation.

The project has generated several other impacts related to the project themes of social capital/social cohesion and mental health, as relates to the Covid-19 pandemic: 1) The paper explores the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people’s perceptions of cohesion in their local communities; particularly for vulnerable groups/communities, such as ethnic minorities or those living in highly deprived neighbourhoods. To this end, we examine both trends over time in overall levels of cohesion as well as patterns of positive and negative changes experienced by individuals using nationally representative data from Understanding Society Study. We test whether rates of positive-/negative-change in cohesion over the pandemic-period differed across socio-demographic groups and neighbourhood characteristics. These trends are then compared to patterns of positive-/negative-change over time experienced in earlier periods to test whether the pandemic was uniquely harmful. We show that the overall levels of social cohesion are lower in June 2020 compared to all of the examined pre-pandemic periods. The decline of perceived-cohesion is particularly high in the most deprived communities, among certain ethnic minority groups and among the lower-skilled. Our findings suggest that the pandemic put higher strain on social-resources among vulnerable groups and communities, who also experienced more negative changes in other areas of life. 2) The study examines the impact of coronavirus-related restrictions on mental health among American adults, and how this relationship varies as a function of time and two measures of vulnerability (preexisting physical symptoms and job insecurity). We draw on data from two waves of Corona Impact Survey, which were fielded in late April and early of May 2020. Multilevel models were used to analyze the hierarchically nested data. Experiencing coronavirus disease-2019 restrictions significantly raise mental distress. This association is stronger for individuals with preexisting health conditions and those who worry about job prospects. These findings hold with the inclusion of region-wave covariates (number of deaths, wave dummy and aggregate measure of restrictions). Finally, there is a cross-level interaction: the restriction-distress connection is more pronounced in the second wave of data. Our research indicates that people who are more physically and/or financially vulnerable suffer more from the imposed restrictions, i.e. ‘social isolation’. The mental health impact of coronavirus pandemic is not constant but conditional on the level of vulnerability.

Rising ethnic diversity across countries is becoming a highly-charged issue. This is leading to intense academic, policy, and public debate, amid concerns that diversity may pose a threat to social cohesion. Within these debates, residential communities are increasingly seen as key sites across which both fractures may emerge, but also where opportunities for building cohesion exist. In light of this, research showing diverse communities weaken cohesion is worrying. Yet, there is a potentially key omission from this work: the role of residential segregation. While studies largely focus on the size of ethnic groups in an area they rarely...

In 2022, the rate of suicides among males was 16.4 per 100,000 population and among females it was 5.4 per 100,000. The rate of suicide has slightly decreased for both genders since the beginning of given time period of the statistic, although recent years has seen an increase again for both men and women. However, the rate of suicide for men has remained significantly higher than for women. Individuals seeking help for mental health issuesIn Great Britain, almost 70 percent have never visited a mental health professional, while eighteen percent consult with one at least once a year. Additionally, almost 60 percent of those with a psychiatric condition do not take any medication to control their condition. Mental health of young peopleThe COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact of the mental health of many people, particularly young people. The share of all adults reporting to having experienced symptoms of depression doubled during the pandemic compared to before. Although for those in the age group 16 to 39 years, depression prevalence tripled. Among young people that had mental health concerns prior to the pandemic, a significant majority of those surveyed reported that their life had become worse due to the impact of the pandemic and subsequent restrictions.

The suicide rate among females in the United States is highest for those aged 45 to 64 years and lowest among girls aged 10 to 14 and elderly women 75 and over. Although the suicide rate among women remains over three times lower than that of men, rates of suicide among women have gradually increased over the past couple decades. Suicide among women in the United States In 2021, there were around six suicide deaths per 100,000 women in the United States. In comparison, the rate of suicide among women in the year 2000 was about four per 100,000. Suicide rates among women are by far the highest among American Indians or Alaska Natives and lowest among Hispanic and Black or African American women. Although firearms are involved in the highest share of suicide deaths among both men and women, they account for a much smaller share among women. In 2020, the firearm suicide rate among women was 1.8 per 100,000 population, while the rates of suicide for suffocation and poisoning were 1.7 and 1.5 per 100,000, respectively. Suicidal ideation among women Although not everyone who experiences suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, will attempt suicide, suicidal thoughts are a risk factor for suicide. In 2022, just over five percent of women in the United States reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Suicidal thoughts are more common among women than men even though men have much higher rates of death from suicide than women. This is because men are more likely to use more lethal methods of suicide such as firearms. Women who suffer from substance use disorder are significantly more likely to have serious thoughts of suicide than women without substance use disorder.