8: Inside the teen mind: what’s happening to mental health? – with Jean Twenge and Yvonne Kelly

The Health Foundation podcast

The pandemic has created profound challenges for young people over the past year – with education, work, relationships and social time all affected.
We also know about the wider economic trends which pile pressure on teens to make it to college to have a better job in the future, and the social trends which might undermine their security as they transition from child to adult. Combined with big changes in how young people are living their lives – such as a huge increase in the use of social media – it’s perhaps unsurprising that we’ve seen trends of increasing levels of depression, self harm, anxiety, eating disorders and other mental health issues in teens.
In the latest episode of our podcast, our Chief Executive Dr Jennifer Dixon discusses these issues with two expert guests:

• Jean Twenge is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, who has focused much of her research on generational differences, including work values, life goals, and speed of development. She is also known for her books including iGen and Generation me.

• Yvonne Kelly is Professor of Lifecourse Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London. She is Director of International Centre for Lifecourse Studies and leads work on health and development during childhood and adolescence, on which she has written extensively.

Reading materials referenced in this episode:

• iGen. Twenge J. Atria Books, 2017.
• Generation me. Twenge J. The Free Press. 2006, updated 2014.
• Children of Katrina. Fothergill A, Peek L. University of Texas Press, 2015.
• A healthy foundation for the future. The Health Foundation, 2019.
  

Useful links:

• Find out more about our COVID-19 impact inquiry
• Watch our Surviving COVID film about the impact of the pandemic on young people
• Find out more about the Health Foundation podcast