Youth mental health trends: comparing the UK and Brazil
27 March 2025
A new study at the Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health at Cardiff University has revealed important differences in how youth mental health has changed over time in the UK and Brazil.
While evidence shows a continued rise in mental health problems among young people in the UK over the past three decades, this trend is not seen in all global regions.
The study, led by Dr Jessica Armitage, examined data from four cohorts to compare mental health difficulties among young people born in the early 1990s and early 2000s.
In the UK, findings confirmed a rise in mental health problems over time. However, in Pelotas, Brazil, researchers found a decline in emotional problems among 11-year-olds, with the percentage of young people scoring in the abnormal range dropping from 41.7% (1993 birth cohort) to 20.1% (2004 birth cohort). In contrast, the UK saw an increase from 7.3% to 10.9% over the same period.
Despite this positive trend in Pelotas, mental health problems remained significantly more prevalent there compared to the UK. These findings highlight the need for further research into the factors contributing to these differing trends and what can be learned to support young people’s mental health more effectively.
“We were surprised to see the decline in emotional problems over time in the Pelotas cohorts. However, it’s important not to generalise to children living elsewhere in Brazil, who will likely differ on a range of factors relevant to mental health. A crucial next step now is to understand why we may be seeing these differences across cohorts.”
The study underscores the importance of understanding how mental health challenges evolve across different contexts and calls for continued efforts to address these disparities on a global scale.
The paper, ‘A cross-country comparison of temporal change in adolescent mental health problems in the UK and Brazil’ is published in the EPS journal and available to read online on the Cambridge University Press.