Latest news with #NatureMentalHealth
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Gen Z Youth Is Totally Restructuring the Way Researchers Visualize Happiness — & It's Not Good
Happiness is a hard thing to quantify. How do you take a subjective feeling and make it a fact? It's something researchers have grappled with, and that subjectiveness is why most studies about happiness (or any emotion) have to be taken with a grain of salt. But for a long time, researchers have thought of the human experience of happiness as a U-shaped line graph. People are typically really happy in their youth (Oh, the joys of adolescence!), and that feeling dips as they reach middle age (Here comes that proverbial crisis!). And then, as adults get even older, they begin to feel as content as they were when they were young (Bring on the Golden Years!). More from SheKnows Gen Z Students Graduate College This Month - This Is What the Majority Are Thinking New research is quite literally squashing that idea. Instead of a 'U,' Gen Z is so unhappy that their early years are more in line with the happiness levels of middle age. What does that mean? Basically, researchers have to start thinking of happiness as more of a 'J' than a 'U.' This week, a collection of papers in Nature Mental Health, based on a collaboration between Harvard and Baylor University, and the findings are bleak. The data, which comprised of self-reported surveys of more than 200 thousand people in over 20 studies, found that people ages 18 to 29 were generally struggling with happiness, physical and mental health, perceptions of their own character, their ability to find meaning in life, the quality of their relationships, and their financial security. Like we said … bleak. These findings are part of the first wave of data from the 'Global Flourishing Study,' and, as you probably guessed, it found that most participants in Western countries had 'lower levels of flourishing' (AKA not living in a state where all aspects of life were good) until they hit the age of 50. 'It is a pretty stark picture,' said Tyler J. VanderWeele, the lead author of the study and director of Harvard's Human Flourishing Program, per The New York Times. And so the question becomes, as VanderWeele asked, 'Are we sufficiently investing in the well-being of youth?' So, how did we end up here? You probably have some theories (we know we do). There is an abundance of research showing how detrimental social media is to young people's mental health. And climate anxiety probably doesn't help. But perhaps there is more. Dr. VanderWeele said the Global Flourishing Study plans to collect data annually through 2027 to try and understand why so much of Gen Z is not flourishing. And we have to wonder, what does that mean for younger teens? If you ask Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, the science director of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, she doesn't think it's great. 'Our welfare is dependent on the welfare of every other human,' she said, per NYT. 'We don't just get to be happy and put a fence around ourselves.' Meaning, if older teens and young adults are so miserable that researchers have to reevaluate what happiness looks like, their younger peers just might follow of SheKnows How 20+ Celebrity Parents Are Raising Their Kids to Be Good Humans Anna Nicole Smith's Daughter Dannielynn Birkhead & More Grown-Up Celebrity Kids Wearing Their Famous Mom's Outfits 35 Famous Daughters Who Look Just Like Their Celebrity Moms
Hans India
03-05-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Rethinking happiness and health in a changing world
Young adults across the world between the ages of 18 and 29 are struggling, not only with happiness but also with their physical and mental health, according to a new study. The study showed that young adults are struggling with perceptions of their own character, finding meaning in life, the quality of their relationships, and their financial security, Xinhua news agency reported. The data, collected by Gallup primarily in 2023, was derived from self-reported surveys of more than 200,000 people in over 20 countries and published in the journal Nature Mental Health. The study was one of a collection of papers based on the inaugural wave of data from the Global Flourishing Study, a collaboration between researchers at Harvard and Baylor University. The study found that the participants had relatively low measures of flourishing on average until age 50. 'It is a pretty stark picture,' said lead author Tyler J. VanderWeele, of the study. The findings raise an important question, he said: 'Are we sufficiently investing in the well-being of youth?' The condition was found to be similar in a number of countries, including the UK, Brazil, and Australia. But the difference between younger and older adults was largest in the US, The New York Times reported, citing the researchers. 'Young adulthood has long been considered a carefree time, a period of limitless opportunity and few obligations. But data from the flourishing study and elsewhere suggests that for many people, this notion is more fantasy than reality,' said The Times in its report about the study. 'Study after study shows that social connection is critical for happiness, and young people are spending less time with friends than they were a decade ago,' Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale and host of 'The Happiness Lab' podcast, was quoted as saying. 'Plus, like folks of all ages, young people are facing a world with a whole host of global issues, from climate to the economy to political polarisation,' Santos added.
Gulf Today
01-05-2025
- Health
- Gulf Today
Young adults not as happy as before, reveals new study
Young adults across the world between the ages of 18 and 29 are struggling, not only with happiness but also with their physical and mental health, according to a new study. The study showed that young adults are struggling with perceptions of their own character, finding meaning in life, the quality of their relationships, and their financial security, Xinhua news agency reported. The data, collected by Gallup primarily in 2023, was derived from self-reported surveys of more than 200,000 people in over 20 countries and published in the journal Nature Mental Health. The study was one of a collection of papers based on the inaugural wave of data from the Global Flourishing Study, a collaboration between researchers at Harvard and Baylor University. The study found that the participants had relatively low measures of flourishing on average until age 50. "It is a pretty stark picture," said lead author Tyler J. VanderWeele, of the study. The findings raise an important question, he said: "Are we sufficiently investing in the well-being of youth?" The condition was found to be similar in a number of countries, including the UK, Brazil, and Australia. But the difference between younger and older adults was largest in the US, The New York Times reported, citing the researchers. "Young adulthood has long been considered a carefree time, a period of limitless opportunity and few obligations. But data from the flourishing study and elsewhere suggests that for many people, this notion is more fantasy than reality," said The Times in its report about the study. "Study after study shows that social connection is critical for happiness, and young people are spending less time with friends than they were a decade ago," Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale and host of "The Happiness Lab" podcast, was quoted as saying. "Plus, like folks of all ages, young people are facing a world with a whole host of global issues, from climate to the economy to political polarisation," Santos added. Indo-Asian News Service
New York Post
01-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Post
US beaten by neighboring country in new ‘flourishing' ranking — here's why we're lagging
Money can't buy happiness — and these countries prove it. The first-ever Global Flourishing Study has determined the countries where people 'flourish' the most. Expands beyond the annual World Happiness Report — which often highlights the high quality of life in Nordic nations — the new research digs deeper into all areas of people's lives beyond ranking how satisfied they are with their lives. Advertisement 6 People living in Indonesia are flourishing the most, according to the first-ever Global Flourishing Study. tawatchai1990 – Researchers from Harvard University surveyed more than 200,000 people from 22 countries spanning the six populated continents — representing 64% of the world's population. Indonesia topped the list, followed by Israel, the Philippines, Mexico and Poland, according to findings that were published in the journal Nature Mental Health. Advertisement Next, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and Argentina rounded out the top ten. And despite being one of the wealthiest countries on the list, the US came in at a humbling No. 12, right behind Hong Kong, while the UK was found at a paltry No. 20. 6 Israel was second on the list of most flourishing countries. Picturellarious – Researchers defined flourishing as 'a state in which all aspects of a person's life are good,' meaning that 'a well-lived life is more than just health and happiness.' Advertisement The researchers added additional facets to determine a well-lived life, including happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability. Indonesia is not a rich country, but it ranked highly in measures of relationships and pro-social character traits, which foster social connections and community. 6 In contrast, Japan was listed as the place where people flourish the least. AFP via Getty Images On the opposite end of the scale, Japan was listed as the place where people flourish the least. Despite being a wealthy country where citizens tend to live well into old age, people in Japan are least likely to have a close friend. Advertisement 'We're not here to say those outcomes [wealth, longer lifespans] don't matter a lot, or that we shouldn't care about democracy, we shouldn't care about economic growth, we shouldn't care about public health,' Brendan Case, a study author, said, according to the Daily Mail. 'But it's interesting to consider that the Global Flourishing Study raises some important questions about the potential tradeoffs involved in that process.' 6 Although it is a wealthy country where citizens tend to live well into old age, people in Japan are least likely to have a close friend. WavebreakMediaMicro – The team recognized three key findings regarding age, mental health and connection to community — all of which were crucial factors in the US' ranking. For one, the connection between age and flourishing varies across countries. It has long been believed that life satisfaction is typically higher in early adulthood, dips in middle age and rises again in old age. 6 The team recognized three key findings regarding age, mental health and connection to the community — all of which showed drastically in the US. aLListar/ – Advertisement However, this was not found to be true with flourishing — most obviously in the US and other high-income countries. In America, the flourishing factor rose steadily with age. Mental health was also found to be a key factor. Physical health tends to stay the same with age, but poor mental health holds young people back — again, especially in the US. Researchers also found that participating in weekly group activities — in particular, church — generally boosted people's ability to flourish. The only high-income countries in the top half of the list were Israel and Poland. The majority of those in developed countries reported less meaning, fewer and less satisfying relationships and communities, and fewer positive emotions than those in less developed locales. Advertisement In contrast, the people in countries that flourished may not have high incomes but have good friendships, marriages and community involvement — especially in religious communities. 6 The people in countries that 'flourished' may not have high incomes but have good friendships, marriages and community involvement — especially in religious communities. charmedlightph – 'We need to figure out how to foster economic development without compromising meaning, purpose and relationships,' the authors of the study wrote in the New York Times. They claimed their 'work offers an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which much of the developed world may have gone astray and to explore the paths that might lead us back to happier lives.'
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
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?
