Young people more engaged in school, but psychological distress is on the rise

Research for the Department for Education compared the experiences and attitudes of 14-year-olds in 2014 with those in 2005.

The report. which tracked the well-being of 30,000 people in 13,000 households, found that young people felt less control over their own destinies and that they were more ‘serious’ in 2014 than in 2005.

That said, it also revealed that young people are more engaged in school, more likely to want to go to university and less likely to be involved in ‘risky’ activities, such as smoking or getting involved in petty crime.

The study found there was an increase in psychological problems, particularly among girls, and that there were also more problems for those growing up in single-parent families.

Researchers suggested that the economic climate could be the reason for the sense of seriousness and the need to do well at school; teenagers in 2005 had grown up in a time of sustained economic growth - while those in 2014 were aware of the tough competition for jobs and the difficulty in affording somewhere to live. The result seems to have been to make young people more ‘work focused’, says the survey.

The study also linked an increase in psychological problems with changing technology, such as social media and the availability of the internet on mobile phones. This represents a ‘major change in the lives of young people’, says the study. Teenagers in 2014, unlike those in 2005, faced the almost constant pressure of social media and the use of smartphones with video cameras. This played a part in everything from bullying to missed hours of sleep and to pressure on friendships and relationships.