Weakened family bonds, decreased spirituality, early smartphone use and poor diet perpetuate the global mental health crisis among young adults, a new study concludes.
Sapiens Labs’ Global Mind Health in 2025 measures the average person’s “mind health,” or “ability to navigate life’s challenges and function productively.”
The study quantifies “mind health” using the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) assessment — a test measuring a person’s mental health and wellbeing on a scale from “distressed” (-100) to “thriving” (200). The final report draws conclusions from more than one million MHQ assessments from people across 84 internet-enabled countries.
The average adult’s MHQ score in 2025 was 66, in the “managing” range. People with this score generally operate at full productivity about 70% of the time.
Adults 55 years old and older had a much higher average MHQ of 101. More than half (60%) of the people in this age group have scores above 100, in the “succeeding” or “thriving” ranges. Conversely, only about 10% of people in this group experience clinically significant mental health problems.
Adults 18 to 34 years old fared far less well. People in this age group had an average MHQ of 36 — 30 points below the global average. Only 23% of adults in this age group have mind health scores indicating “success” or “thriving” and a whopping 41% experience clinically significant mental health issues.
The disparity between younger and older adults bears out across all internet-enabled countries, without a single exception — though the chasm tends to be more pronounced in wealthier, technologically-advanced areas.
The report dubs this phenomenon the “paradox of progress,” writing:
Contemporary young adults, living with unprecedented technological access, should experience better mind health, reflected in stronger capacities and a greater sense of wellbeing, with those in wealthier countries faring even better.
Yet the opposite is true: The wealthier the country, the worse the mind health of its young adults.
Here’s the good news. The Global Mind Health study identifies four major factors which contribute to young adult’s mental health problems — and parents heavily influence all four.
The first of these factors is weakened family bonds.
The study reiterates what Focus on the Family has taught for years: Children who grow up with close family relationships tend to have better mind health and fewer depressive symptoms in adulthood.
The MHQ data from 2025 bears this out. Young adults in the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Finland — the countries where the highest percentage of respondents (70% or more) reported close family bonds — had MHQ scores 15 points higher, on average, than young adults in Taiwan, Benin and Mozambique — the countries where the lowest percentage of respondents (48% or less) reported close family ties.
The second factor is declining spirituality.
The impact of faith on a person’s life is notoriously difficult to measure, particularly using self-reported assessments. But higher levels of spirituality, which the study defines as a person’s “sense or feeling of connection to a higher power or [the] divine,” generally correlate to better life skills, fewer mental health problems and lower rates of suicidality and addiction.
In 2025, young adults in countries with high levels of reported spirituality among young people had MHQ scores 30 points higher, on average, than young adults in countries where young people reported low levels of spirituality.
The third factor is the age when a person receives a smartphone.
The Global Mind Health study quantified the effects of smartphones on Gen Z adults ages 18 to 24 years old. The earlier a respondent received a smartphone, the study found, the worse they fared later in life.
“These struggles extend beyond sadness and anxiety to less discussed symptoms, such as a sense of being detached from reality, suicidal thoughts and aggression toward others,” the report warns, noting negative effects increased when children received smartphones before 13 years old.
The fourth factor is consumption of ultra-processed foods, which can exacerbate mental health conditions like depression.
The Global Mind Health study found more than half of adults ages 18 to 34 reported consuming ultra-processed foods regularly, compared to just 26% of adults ages 55 and older who reported doing the same.
Importantly, a country’s spending on mental health research and treatment did not correlate with better outcomes for young adults. America, for instance, spent $2.2 billion on mental health research in 2024 and more than $1 trillion on treating mental disorders in adults between 2014 and 2024.
Yet, the average young adult in America had an MHQ of about 40 in 2025 — tied with France for the 58th worst average MHQ score of the 84 countries studied.
The Global Mind Health study confirms young adults are struggling. But it also shows the singular impact parents have on their child’s future mental health and resilience.
The choices you make now — to pour into relationships with your children, to teach them to love Jesus, to shield them from technology and to fuel their bodies well —scientifically set them up for success
Focus on the Family offers free articles and resources to help parents raise healthy, godly children. Explore the links below to learn more.
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