High levels of serious mental health difficulties among 17-year-olds

16% of teenagers report high levels of psychological distress at age 17, finds a new study led by UCL researchers based on data collected in 2018-19. The findings also show 24% of young people report self-harming and 7% report self-harming with suicidal intent by age 17. The research, which is being published in a  briefing paper  by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the UCL Social Research Institute provides evidence of widespread mental health difficulties among the UK's Generation Z before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Using new data from the  Millennium Cohort Study  (MCS), a nationally representative study of teenagers born in 2000-02, this research also reveals stark inequalities in levels of psychological distress, with females, White teenagers, those from disadvantaged backgrounds and sexual minority teens all more likely to experience mental ill-health. The authors analysed information collected from more than 10,000 young people who have all been taking part in the MCS since they were born. In 2018-19 when study members were aged 17, they answered a series of questions about their mental health over the preceding month, whether they had self-harmed in the last year, and if they had ever self-harmed with suicidal intent. Overall, 22% of females and 10% of males had high levels of psychological distress, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.