What’s New in Psychology

Anxiety and Depression Increase for America’s Youth    

Jim Windell

           The percentage of young people under 18 years old with anxiety and depression increased steadily from 2016 to 2022. Researchers found an increase in the proportions of youth who experienced anxiety or depression.  

           This was reported in a research letter published online recently in JAMA Pediatrics.

           The researchers, Marie E. Heffernan, Ph.D., and Michelle L. Macy, M.D., both from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, used publicly available data from the National Survey of Children's Health from 2016 to 2022 to examine trends in youth mental health conditions.

           They point out that in contrast to increases in anxiety and depression, there was no increase during that time period related to physical health problems, such as asthma, severe headache or migraine, and heart conditions.

           “These findings suggest that deterioration in youth health was specific to depression and anxiety but not select physical health conditions," the authors write in their letter. “Our findings suggest that continued attention and resources are warranted at a national level to address the potential causes of worsening youth anxiety and depression.”

           The study found that the proportion of children with anxiety jumped from 7.1 percent in 2016 to 10.6 percent in 2022 (the most recent year of publicly available data). Depression increased from 3.2 percent to 4.6 percent in the same period. ADD/ADHD increased but did not reach statistical significance, while behavioral or conduct problems remained at about the same percentage. 

           The data revealed the opposite trajectory for the selected physical health problems. Asthma declined from 8.4 percent to 6.5 percent, and severe headaches or migraines went down from 3.5 percent to 2.6 percent. The percentage of children with heart conditions did not change over the study period.

           “Our findings underscore the critical need to prioritize youth mental health, which continued to worsen even as we emerged from the pandemic,” says lead author Marie Heffernan, Scientific Director for Quantitative Science at Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research, and Evaluation Center Catalyst Program at Lurie Children’s and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Parents and schools need more support to be better equipped to help children suffering from anxiety or depression.”

           “Continued attention and resources are warranted at a national level to clarify and address the multitude of potential causes of worsening anxiety and depression in children and adolescents," adds senior author Michelle Macy, M.D., M.S., emergency medicine physician and director of Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research and Evaluation Center at Lurie Children's, and professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

           To read the original research letter, find it with this reference:

Heffernan, M. E., & Macy, M. L. (2025). Trends in Mental and Physical Health Among Youths. JAMA pediatrics.