Youth Depression
We report two measures.
The narrower definition of youth depression focuses on surveys of adolescents and teenagers (age 10‒19) and uses the full set of symptoms used to clinically diagnose depression (the data do not reflect actual diagnoses).
The broader definition is the percentage of 9th‒12th graders reporting feelings of hopelessness or sadness lasting every day for 2+ weeks in a row that prevented them from doing some of their usual activities, which is only one of the multiple criteria in the narrower definition.
(Source: Authors' analysis of Youth Risk Behavior Survey).
Why did we include this measure?
Depression is an extreme form of mental distress and a common precursor to suicide. Given the importance of childhood for shaping life trajectories, depression at this early stage is a particular concern for the future. Especially in its more extreme forms, depression affects almost every element of life, including the ability to focus on studying, participate in school activities, and engage in deep relationships with friends and family. Depression also carries over to our ability to sleep and other aspects of our physical health. Those who have depression when they are young are also more likely to experience depression, and all of these symptoms, when they are older.
We included two different measures of depression because the available measures have different strengths and weaknesses and capture varying degrees of depression intensity. However, they show the same basic patterns.
How does the US rank globally?
- Specific Measure: (Same as narrower definition above.)
(Source: Same as above).
- Percentage of countries the US outperforms: 1% (out of 112 countries)
- International Rank Trend: Worsening
National Trend Worsening
What do the data show?
The US ranks second-to-last in the world of 112 higher-income countries—just behind Greece, Spain, and Portugal—and we have been falling further and further behind.
What might explain these patterns?
The upward shift in youth depression started around 2007 and has been concentrated mainly among girls. There has been considerable debate about the causes. The timing of the depression spike coincides with the launch of the iPhone, and the more recent spike around 2017 is associated with the rapidly expanded use of social media through those devices. We could not find any other proposed explanation that can explain these patterns. On the other hand, it is difficult to carry out the kinds of studies that would be needed to clearly pin down the role of smartphones, social media, or other causes.
For more information about data sources and treatments, download the Data Notes.