A survey of 50,000 people across 92 countries finds global mental health may be languishing, including in the wealthiest countries, and especially among young people, who in previous generations had comparatively higher levels of mental health.
Worldwide, mental health scores appear to be dragged down by responses from younger people who lack fundamental aspects of well-being, particularly lower vitality, emotional stability, and resilience. In contrast, the study found positive signs for older people and, more broadly, for how people of all ages view their relationships and sense of meaning.
The findings are published in the journal Social Indicators Research.
These findings are more than just a sign to policymakers that solutions are necessary to improve mental health among young people or those struggling to make ends meet.”
Kai Ruggeri, PhD, lead author, professor of health policy and management, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
“In fact, they are a flashing red light that entire populations are already struggling and feel their resilience is diminished here and now, not only a concern for an uncertain future. Leaders can no longer use vague platitudes that hand-wave toward investing in non-specific mental health initiatives. They have to make specific commitments to significant actions: ensure livelihoods in the face of AI-driven job losses, address factors driving burnout in young and working-age populations, and take steps that will generate confidence toward future opportunities-and all of this needs to be underpinned with improving access to care for mental illness. Failure to do so is not just a threat for the future, but for here and now,” he continues.
The survey, conducted predominantly online, asked respondents 10 questions about mental health, capturing a variety of dimensions, including feelings of competence, optimism, self-esteem, positive emotion, engagement, and vitality, among others. This was followed by additional measures of common mental disorders such as stress, depression, and anxiety, as well as overall life satisfaction. The researchers also collected demographic information on age, sex, wealth, employment, and more.
Optimism gap
The highest-scoring mental health dimensions were relationships, meaning, competence, engagement, and self-esteem. This finding may indicate that individuals self-assess positively but are negative about external factors driving down well-being. In other words, they may feel generally positive about their personal circumstances and experiences, but events beyond their control (political and economic instability) are causing significant harm (fear, stress, burnout). This aligns with reports on “optimism gaps” between what people view for their own lives versus what they view for society more generally.
Income, education, employment, living arrangements
People who were employed and those with higher incomes tended to have better mental health and well-being. There was no cut-off; the more resources they had, the better the outcomes. Contrary to narratives about the declining value of university education, having a secondary education or less was associated with lower well-being in many countries; every additional level of educational attainment was linked to higher mental health and well-being scores. Not living alone also benefited well-being; larger households reported higher scores. Similarly, people who worked in hybrid arrangements scored better than those in fully remote positions.
The study’s authors caution against comparing mental health scores between countries because factors may influence how people respond in some places, such as awareness that the study is global and reporting positive responses to project a positive external image. They also speculate that some young people who volunteered to participate were eager to share specifically because they feel their concerns about mental health have not been addressed. Likewise, the oldest participants may have been those most able to do so because of overall connectedness (i.e., how they were informed of the survey in the first place) and vitality levels (i.e., some energy and motivation were required to complete the survey). However, these factors alone cannot explain away the entire effect for such a large sample, the authors conclude.
Source:
Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health
Journal reference:
Ruggeri, K., et al. (2026). Global mental wealth: A multidimensional analysis of social, financial, and emotional well-being in 92 countries. Social Indicators Research. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-026-03890-0. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-026-03890-0
