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Gen Z: Studies Show Higher Rates of Depression
One in a series on Generation Z.
Generation Z, which is predicted to overtake all previous generations in size as they age and older generations die out, has been beset by mental health issues such as depression and suicide more than previous generations at this age.
Gen Z is the least likely to report good or excellent mental health, according to an American Psychological Association (APA) study of Gen Z in October 2018. And just as concerning as the prevalence of stress in this population is its struggle to manage it.
A new study by the JAMA Network of medical journals shows that suicide rates for America’s youth reached a peak in 2017, with the suicide rate for Americans of all ages increasing 30% from the years 2000 to 2016, according to CDC data.
Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 10 and 34 in 2017, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
The authors of the study said the youth suicide rate, which reached 14.6 per 100,000, appears to be the highest since the government began collecting such data in 1960.
Suicide rates for girls and young women doubled between 2000 and 2017. Rates for boys and young men showed a similar increase over the same period, but suicide rates spiked about four years ago, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
In 2017, young men ages 15 to 19 killed themselves at a rate of 17.9 per 100,000, up from 13 per 100,000 in 2000. Contributing to the high youth depression and suicide rates in America are social media use and a greater willingness of families and officials to acknowledge suicide as a cause of death, the authors of the JAMA study said.
“I think a lot of people in my generation struggle with it due to the fact that we are so connected via the internet and social media, which brings a lot of pressure,” said Margo Joel, 21, of New Jersey.
Social media has provided Gen Zers an intense connectivity with the world around them, but somehow, according to a 2018 survey, they are still the loneliest.
Gen Z had the highest score on the UCLA Loneliness Scale, which has been the standard measurement for studying loneliness since 1978.
Issues in the news, which Gen Zers absorb mostly through social media, including climate change, mass shootings, separation of migrant families and widespread sexual assault reports, are more distressing to Gen Zers than they are to members of older generations, according to Pew Social Trends.
Between 2009 and 2017, rates of depression among those ages 14 to 17 increased by more than 60%, according to a study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. The increases were nearly as steep among ages 12 to 13 (47%) and 18 to 21 (46%), and rates roughly doubled among ages 20 to 21.
In 2017, the latest year for which federal data are available, more than 1 in 8 Americans ages 12 to 25 experienced a major depressive episode, the study found.
Though 37% of Gen Zers — more than any other generation — reported receiving help from a mental health professional, only half said they felt they did enough to manage their stress. Nearly three-quarters of these individuals also said they could have used more emotional support over the past year.
“Among Gen Z adults (ages 18 to 21), common symptoms of stress include feeling depressed or sad (58%), lack of interest, motivation or energy (55%) or feeling nervous or anxious (54%),” the APA report stated. “During the prior month, adult Gen Zs also commonly reported laying awake at night due to stress (68%) or eating too much, or eating unhealthy food (58%).”
Climate change and global warming are looming over the heads of Gen Zers, who will largely be the ones who will deal with the effects. In the APA report, 58% said climate change and global warming concern them, compared with 51% of adults overall.
Gun violence is another crucial issue for Gen Zers, with 75% of them — compared with 62% of adults overall — calling mass shootings a significant source of stress, according to the annual Stress in America survey conducted by the American Psychological Association. Clusters of episodes such as recent mass shootings in California, Texas and Ohio, weigh heavily on Gen Z.
Sixty-two percent called rising suicide rates a source of stress, compared to 44% of adults overall; 53% said the same of reported sexual harassment and assault, compared to 39% of adults overall; and 57% were stressed by family separations, compared to 45% of adults overall.
Work, finances and health-related concerns all stressed out more Gen Z adults than adults overall, the report said. Money was the most common source of stress, affecting 81% of Gen Z adults and 64% of adults overall.
There has been a cultural shift in how people think and talk about depression and suicide in the past few decades, which has increased reporting.
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- By VOA News
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Economics, tensions blamed for Chinese students shifting from US to Australia, Britain
U.S. universities are welcoming international students as the academic year begins. But while the total number of foreign students is steadily growing, the top sending country, China, is showing signs of leveling out or shrinking.
Industry analysts say the negative trend is mainly due to higher costs amid China’s struggling economy, with a growing number of students going to less expensive countries like Australia and Britain, and tense ties between Washington and Beijing.
The number of foreign students studying in the U.S. in 2022-23 passed 1 million for the first time since the COVID pandemic, said Open Doors, an information resource on international students and scholars.
While the U.S. saw a nearly 12% total increase year-on-year for that period, the number of international students from China, its top source, fell by 0.2% to 289,526.
That’s 600 fewer students than the 2021-22 academic year, when their numbers dropped by nearly 9%. The COVID pandemic saw Chinese student numbers drop in 2020-21 by nearly 15%, in line with the world total drop.
While it’s not yet clear if the drop is a leveling out or a fluctuating decline, analysts say China’s struggling economy and the high cost of studying in the U.S. are the main reasons for the fall in student numbers.
Vincent Chen, a Chinese study abroad consultant based in Shanghai, said although most of his clients are still interested in studying in the U.S., there is a clear downward trend, while applicants for Anglophone universities in Australia and Britain have been increasing.
"If you just want to go abroad, a one-year master's degree in the U.K. is much cheaper,” Chen said. “Many people can't afford to study in the U.S., so they have to settle for the next best thing."
Data from the nonprofit U.S. group College Board Research shows that in the 2023-24 academic year, the average tuition and fees for a U.S. private college four-year education increased 4% to $41,540 compared with the previous academic year.
The British Council said three to four years of undergraduate tuition in Britain starts as low as $15,000.
The number of Chinese students in Britain was 154,260 in 2022-23, according to the U.K. Higher Education Statistics Agency, HESA, up from 121,145 in the 2018/19 academic year.
Australia’s Home Affairs office said in the 2023-24 program year, China was the top source foreign country for new student visa grants at 43,389, up slightly (1.5%) from the previous year.
Chen said Chinese state media's negative portrayal of the United States and concerns about discrimination have also contributed to the shift.
Bruce Zhang, a Chinese citizen who received his master's degree in Europe after studying in China, told VOA Mandarin he had such an incident occur to him after he was admitted to a U.S. university’s Ph.D. program.
When he entered Boston's Logan International Airport last year, Zhang said customs officers questioned him for more than an hour about his research, and if it had any links to the military, and took his computer and mobile phone for examination.
"Fortunately, I had heard that U.S. customs might be stringent in inspecting Chinese students, so I had relatively few study-related data and documents on my personal computer," he said.
Zhang was allowed to enter the U.S. for his studies in materials science, but the questioning left him so rattled that he has encouraged other Chinese to study elsewhere.
Cui Kai, a study abroad consultant in Massachusetts told VOA Mandarin that experiences like Zhang’s or worse happen for a reason.
"Students who were questioned or their visas were revoked at the customs are usually those who completed their undergraduate studies in China and come to the U.S. for a master's or doctoral degree in a sensitive major," said Cui.
Former President Donald Trump signed Proclamation 10043 in June 2020, prohibiting visas for any Chinese student who “has been employed by, studied at, or conducted research at or on behalf of, an entity in the PRC that implements or supports the PRC's “military-civil fusion strategy.”
The U.S. says China has been using students and scholars to gain access to key technology and, under Proclamation 10043, revoked more than 1,000 visas issued to Chinese nationals and has denied thousands more.
Critics say the policy is costly to the U.S. and is encouraging Chinese students to look to European and other universities.
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
- By VOA News
Duolingo report details the reality of Gen Z international students
A report by Duolingo takes a look at the experiences of Gen Z international students studying in the U.S., Australia and the U.K, The Pie reports.
The report, the site says, debunks "characterizations of them as 'tech-obsessed, attention-deficit and self-centered'" and highlights "their emerging role in shaping global politics and economics."
Read the full story here. (August 2024)
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