The kids aren't flourishing, global well-being study finds
A new study on human flourishing finds that the old thinking on how age and thriving interact may no longer be true. Young adults in large numbers worldwide aren't doing as well as their age group did in the past — and nowhere is that more true than in the United States.
That's all according to the first wave of data from the Global Flourishing Study, released Wednesday in a special collection of studies published across a series of relevant journals under the Nature-Springer-BMC umbrella, including the journals Nature, Nature Mental Health and Nature Human Behavior. Findings were also discussed in several targeted media briefings.
The ambitious longitudinal study is a collaboration between researchers at Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program, Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion and Gallup.
The results show that, on average, young adults ages 18 to 29 have been struggling on multiple fronts that are considered key in the project's definition of flourishing.
For years, happiness and flourishing were seen as a U shape when it came to the interaction with age: Younger people and older adults were seen to flourish more than the bottom of the U that represented those in middle age. But self-reported measures of well-being are no longer so rosy among the young. While adults after 60 tend to see their lives in a positive light, young people are far less satisfied with their situations.
This report says what's long been considered true clearly isn't now.
'Instead of a U-shaped relationship, flourishing is flat until about age 50 and increases thereafter,' the report said. 'This pattern holds not only overall, but also when looking at most specific indicators of well-being, such as optimism, inner peace, meaning and balance. These findings align with other recent research in high-income settings that suggests that younger cohorts might be struggling more than their predecessors.'
The report also said that when it comes to flourishing, faith matters. The study found that nearly a third of those surveyed globally attend religious services at least weekly and that their attendance was consistently linked to higher levels of well-being across countries.
At the heart of the study is a question: 'What contributes to a life well-lived?' The report's definition of flourishing is 'the relevant attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person's life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives.'
It's more than whether people are healthy or happy. The study looked at well-being in specific domains: happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability. It's self-reported, a depiction of how individuals see their own lives.
Those, per the report, determine who flounders and who flourishes.
The data includes 207,000 participants in 22 countries and Hong Kong. The countries are often very different from each other, but taken together include between half and two-thirds of the world's population, including people from all six continents that are populated.
In Nature Mental Health, research led by Tyler J. VanderWeele, of Harvard, and Byron R. Johnson, of Baylor, reported that most research on well-being has been 'shaped largely' by Western perspective, with most existing studies actually conducted in Western countries.
VanderWeele, Harvard's lead researcher on the project and director of the university's Human Flourishing Program, among his other Harvard titles, noted that while some young people are doing very well, in general these young adults are not flourishing compared to other ages.
The global survey results showed the highest overall flourishing ranking was in Indonesia, followed by Mexico and the Philippines. As CNN Health reported, 'Many of the places that scored the highest in terms of flourishing did not rank highly in assessments of the world's happiest countries, according to the new report.
Indonesia scored 8.47 out of 10 overall in terms of flourishing. The median result was 7.45. The U.S. scored 7.18, making it No. 15 of those measured.
The study is considered unique in that it's not a snapshot, but will follow the same people over years. Most of the Global Flourishing Study's first wave was collected by Gallup in surveys by phone, in person and online in 2023.
The other thing that makes the study unique is that the team partners with the Center for Open Science to share data and makes its data publicly available.
Countries included are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
Some study limitations were noted, however. The surveys were taken at different times, in different languages and it would be hard to compare findings apples to apples given the economic, political and cultural differences among those surveyed, per VanderWeele.
Also, the flourishing dimensions were assessed without tailoring them to the different national contexts. Because it was all self-report, that also created some limitations, per the researchers.
And despite the vast geographic reach of the study, it had some notable gaps, too, including that data collection from mainland China wasn't completed in time for this wave. Nor were low-income countries represented. The data came from middle-income and high-income countries.
The gap in flourishing between young and older respondents was widest in the United States. Adults ages 18 to 29 had a flourishing score of 5.68, while those ages 60-69 had a score of 8.06.
The report notes that the lagging mental health scores for youths 'aligns with recent calls to action over a looming youth mental health crisis.'
The report found little consistency across the board between countries. For instance, while the report said that overall physical health tends to decline with age, in some countries — including the U.S. — self-reported physical health 'tends to stay roughly the same with age' based on the self-reports.
Nor is there a universal pattern for mental health. But in the majority of countries (there are nine exceptions), young people are not flourishing in terms of mental health, though the story is different for older adults.
'This pattern is most striking in Brazil, Sweden and the United States and aligns with recent calls to action over a looming youth mental health crisis,' per the study. It notes that what that means as young people age depends on whether it's an age effect or a cohort effect. If it's something about their generation, mental health flourishing may not improve as they get older. If it's an age effect, they're apt to outgrow it.
But the report emphasizes that 'the outcome is not predetermined; policies supporting the well-being of young people can help shape the future.'
The study looked at all the above-mentioned domains of flourishing, not just health. Some of the other findings:
How age and flourishing interact varies in different countries. In India and Tanzania, it tends to decline with age. In Australia and Sweden, it improves with age. There are many variations.
While mental health matters a lot to flourishing, the mechanism can be different. For instance, in Israel and Poland, the study said how people view their mental health contributes to flourishing across the age groups. On the other hand, in Brazil and the U.S., the mental health ratings 'drag down flourishing scores for younger respondents but boost flourishing among older adults.'
Participating in group activities typically links to higher flourishing levels, but for which groups can vary by country. For instance, the report sees a positive relationship that's stronger between flourishing and religious attendance in countries like the Philippines and Turkey, but less so with civic group activities. But in Spain and Germany, civic and religious participation have similar impacts on flourishing.
Wealthy does not always mean happier. According to the findings, 'People from Indonesia provided the highest self-rated assessments on a broad range of indicators, whereas Japanese respondents' ratings ranked lowest among the 22 countries surveyed on most indicators. More generally, people in high-income countries such as Sweden and the USA score higher on more material aspects of well-being, such as financial security. People in many middle-income countries, on the other hand, rate higher on prosocial behaviors, meaning and close relationships. This suggests that material and social aspects of flourishing do not necessarily align.'
The survey was based on these questions, using a 1 to 10 scale.
Overall, how satisfied are you with life as a whole these days?
In general, how happy or unhappy do you usually feel?
In general, how would you rate your physical health?
How would you rate your overall mental health?
Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
I understand my purpose in life.
I always act to promote good in all circumstances, even in difficult and challenging situations.
I am always able to give up some happiness now for greater happiness later.
I am content with my friendships and relationships.
My relationships are as satisfying as I would want them to be.
How often do you worry about being able to meet normal monthly living expenses?
How often do you worry about safety, food, or housing?
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