Health Australia CU – The Covid19 lockdowns in Australia were some of the harshest in the world which saw large groups of people, predominantly youth who had reached a breaking point defy lockdowns and protest on the streets. Many of the lockdowns ended last year and there was much concern on the long-term impact of the lockdowns on businesses and the mental health on the public.
A new study conducted by the Australian National University (ANU) has found that the mental health and wellbeing of younger people in the nation has significantly improved despite the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
The results were part of the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods’ COVID Impact Monitoring survey, that evaluated the impact of the pandemic on the public for over 2 years and across 12 waves of data collection.
The results from a survey of over 3,500 persons fulfilled in August 2022 indicated that Australians between 18 to 24 years old were more optimistic about their lives and future, and are having less psychological distress.
Professor Nicholas Biddle who co-authored the study stated that they saw an important turnaround in the number young Australians who say their lives and wellbeing were getting better in comparison to Australians between 45 to 64 years old.
Professor Biddle also indicated that over 67.4 %, of young Australians stated their life had got better in the last 12 months, which was the age group with the biggest improvement in life satisfaction since the survey of April 2022.
“We also found a five per cent decline in psychological distress among Australians aged 18 to 24. This was the age group reporting the biggest decline in psychological distress.”
Professor Biddle emphasized that it was important to note that levels of psychological distress were still greater than pre-pandemic levels, but much less than what they were in 2020 and when COVID emerged in Australia.
