A new global study has revealed that 41 per cent of the world’s internet‑enabled young adults aged 18 to 34 are facing what experts describe as a “mind health crisis”, marked by declines in cognitive, emotional, social and physical capacities that significantly affect their ability to navigate life’s challenges. The findings, however, highlight a striking regional contrast, with several African countries leading global rankings in youth mind health outcomes, reports Daily Independent.
The results were released today in the “Global Mind Health in 2025,’ report by Sapien Labs, a Washington, DC‑area nonprofit led by experts in neuroscience, psychology and computational science.
The report draws on data collected from nearly one million people across 84 countries through online surveys conducted in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Global Decline In Youth Mental Health
The study shows a concerning decline in the mental health of younger generations worldwide, while also revealing significant regional differences. Young adults in sub‑Saharan Africa consistently outperform peers in higher‑in‑ come regions, including North America, Europe and parts of Asia. Ghana ranks first globally, followed by Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, placing African countries in the top five positions.
As recently as the early 2000s, this age group enjoyed “the greatest well‑being of all age groups”.
Today, the trend has reversed. Young adults are now four times more likely than those over age 55 to experience mental health challenges of clinical significance that substantially impact their ability to function productively in daily life.
The report attributes this shift to several interconnected factors, including smartphone adoption during childhood, increased consumption of ultra‑processed foods, deteriorating family bonds and diminished spirituality. Coun‑ tries were ranked across each of these dimensions.
Expert Findings
“The mind health crisis appears to be a progressive slide from generation to generation and goes far beyond rising rates of depression and anxiety,” said Tara Thiagarajan, Ph.D., lead author of the report and Sapien Labs’ founder and chief scientist.
“We assessed a wide range of capacities essential for navigating life’s challenges and found that many young adults are struggling. Alongside depression and anxiety, they often experience challenges across emotional control, handling relationships with others, and their ability to focus.”
The strong performance of several African countries suggests that protective factors may be contributing positively to outcomes. Young adults in parts of sub‑Saharan Africa reported the strongest spirituality globally, later adoption of smartphones during child‑ hood, and closer family bonds compared to peers in wealthier regions.
Tanzania, for ex‑ ample, ranks highest globally in spirituality measures and has the oldest average age for smartphone adoption, despite moving from first place over‑ all last year to fifth this year.
Kenya and Nigeria also rank among the top globally, with Kenya showing improvement compared to previous years.
Generational Gap
Despite regional differences, the generational gap re‑ mains consistent worldwide, with older adults maintaining significantly stronger mind health outcomes than younger populations. Previous Sapien Labs research revealed that this gap began developing prior to 2020 and widened significantly during the COVID‑19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, when the mind health of young adults aged 18 to 34 declined sharply while older generations experienced only a relatively minimal decrease. Over the past five years, this gap has remained largely un‑ changed.
Dr Thiagarajan noted that policymakers should pay close attention to the broader eco‑ nomic implications of a growing number of young people entering the workforce with compromised mind health.
Key Contributing Factors
The report highlights four primary factors contributing to youth mind health challenges globally:
Smartphone adoption during childhood: Among those aged 18 to 24, the younger they were when they acquired their first smartphone, the more likely they are to struggle as adults.
Ultra‑processed foods: Mind health declines systematically with consumption of these products. After controlling for other factors, they are estimated to contribute 15–30 per cent of the mental health burden.
Spirituality: Defined as a sense of connection to a higher power, those with spirituality ratings of 7 or higher (out of 9) typically have Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) scores 20 points or more higher than those with ratings below 3. Tanzania leads globally in this measure.
Family bonds: Those with poor family relationships are almost four times more likely to have mind health scores in the distressed or struggling ranges compared to those who are close to many family members. Sapien Labs used survey data to produce MHQ scores, assessing overall mind health defined as the full complement of emotional, social, cognitive and physical capacities required to navigate life, work and relationships effectively.
Geographic Disparities
There were no‑ table geographic disparities in the findings, suggesting a potential in‑verse relationship between national wealth and youth mind health out‑ comes. Young adults in sub‑Saha‑ ran Africa scored far better than peers in high‑ er‑income regions, including the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Japan and Australia, which were near the bottom of the rankings.
The data also showed that young adults in many sub‑Saharan African countries scored higher across the four key contributors to mind health, reporting stronger spiritual connections and later adoption of smartphones during childhood. However, in all countries, internet‑enabled young adults still fared worse than older adults.
Policy Recommendations
“In the U.S., spending on mental health research and care has risen dramatically, by billions of dollars, as it has across western countries. And while important, it’s not moving the needle,” Dr Thiagarajan said.
“We need to stop chasing the symptoms and instead begin tackling the broader problems that erode the productivity and well‑being of young adults around the world. For example, policy interventions that limit smartphone access in childhood and consumption of ultra‑processed foods help safeguard the mind health of the youngest generations, without them, the global economy will flounder for the next several decades.”
The report calls for specific policy actions to reduce harms, particularly those linked to early adoption of smartphones and increased consumption of ultra‑processed foods. For smartphones, it recommends wider adoption of policies banning their use during school hours and establishing minimum age requirements for social media.
For ultra‑processed foods, it calls for new investments in research to uncover risks associated with additives such as colours, flavours, preservatives and emulsifiers, and to provide evidence supporting regulations that can reduce their use.
Economic Implications
“While the report is not the first to connect these influences to mental health challenges, the breadth and depth of the Global Minds data stands out for revealing the scale of the problems they are causing,” said David Blanchflower, Ph.D., professor of economics at Dart‑ mouth College.
“Because when you see evidence that almost half of all young adults globally, the heart of the workforce are struggling with an array of mental health challenges, that means we are facing a crisis that can undermine the health of entire economies and societies. It is a clear signal that we need to act to address the root causes.
