A startling study has revealed that stressed-out youth appear to be having a negative impact on the American economy.
Researchers reported in the journal PLOS Medicine that young people with anxiety or depression are less likely to work as adults, but if they do work, they are more likely to have lower-paying jobs.
Because of this, the researchers estimated that if the government tried to help even the 10 percent of young people at risk of stress, it could add $52 billion to the US budget over 10 years.
The researchers said that our new study shows that improving the mental health of young people could generate billions of dollars in benefits for the federal budget.
For the study, the team analyzed data from more than 3,300 participants in an ongoing study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that follows children into adulthood, said Nathaniel Counts, lead researcher and chief policy officer at The Kennedy Forum in Brigantine.
The research team analyzed data collected since 2000, when the participants were 15 to 17 years old, to examine their mental health in adolescence.
The experts looked specifically at participants’ responses to questions that measured anxiety and depression in adolescents.
