Global, regional and national burdens of mental disorders, substance use disorders and self-harm among adolescents and young adults, 1990-2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2021.

Publication date: Sep 09, 2025

Concerns over the mental health among young people have been increasing recently. We aimed to estimate the burdens of mental disorders, substance use disorders (SUDs), and self-harm at global, regional and national levels among adolescents and young adults aged 10-24 years from 1990 to 2021. Incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of mental disorders, SUDs, and self-harm among young people were examined by age, sex, region, and country/territory. Average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) were utilized to assess the temporal trends of age-standardized rates during 1990-2021. Spearman rank-correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between age-standardized rates for incidence, prevalence, and DALYs and Socio-demographic Index (SDI). In 2021, there were 36. 32 million DALYs due to mental disorders, 4. 37 million DALYs due to SUDs, and 8. 00 million DALYs due to self-harm among adolescents and young adults aged 10-24 years globally. Age-standardized DALY rate of mental disorders exhibited a slightly increasing trend, whereas DALY rates of SUDs and self-harm decreased from 1990 to 2021. Age-standardized incidence, prevalence, and DALY rates for depressive and anxiety disorders in 2020 and 2021 were approximately 20% higher than those observed in the pre-pandemic period. The burdens of mental disorders, SUDs, and self-harm were higher in high SDI countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Greenland, United States of America, and Canada. Global burdens due to mental disorders, mainly included anxiety and depressive disorders among adolescents and young adults markedly increased from 1990 to 2021, with a significant increase coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Semantics

Original Article