Gender diverse teens, girls, more likely to have poorer mental health through high school, study finds

Nearly one in four Australian teenagers are reporting high mental distress by the time they’re in Year 10, new research suggests. And girls and teens who are gender diverse or from a lower socioeconomic background are more likely to suffer. Researchers from the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use surveyed 6600 Australian teenagers across 71 schools annually from when they were in Year 7 and up to Year 10 to track their symptoms over time. The largest study of its kind, they found that by Year 10 nearly one in four teens reported high psychological distress, one in four reported moderate to severe anxiety, and three in 10 reported probable major depression. They also found that teenage girls and gender diverse teens were more likely to start with greater symptoms of mental ill-health and would experience worsening depression and anxiety over their high school years, compared to the teenage boys surveyed. It highlights the rapid rise of adolescent mental ill-health as a public health issue, and the need for more work to understand the drivers behind poor mental health among young people. “We were very concerned to find that mental health symptoms were so widespread in this large cohort of Aussie teens,” lead author and Matilda Centre post-doctoral research associate Scarlett Smout said. Dr Smout said the findings, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, provided “further evidence that current generations of teenagers are suffering more than those before them”. In 2023, suicide was the leading cause of death for one in three people aged 15-24, yet State and Territory governments spent just $313 per person on specialised mental health services in 2022-23. The study also found poor mental health was significantly associated with socioeconomic disadvantage, with less affluent teens surveyed experiencing the higher symptoms of depression. Co-author and Matilda Centre senior research fellow Katrina Champion said getting a clearer picture of the most at risk groups would help inform investment into prevention and support. “More work needs to be done directly with teenagers in these vulnerable groups to develop tailored mental health prevention and support programs,” Dr Champion said. Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin said the research shows how “disturbingly common” mental ill-health was in young people, prompting a need for further research and investment. Lifeline 13 11 14 headspace 1800 650 890 QLife 1800 184 527 Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800