How Intergenerational Injustice Impacts Young People's Mental Health: A Qualitative Study

Emerging adulthood is a significant period of developmental transition, and recent increases have been observed in mental health diagnoses and service use among people at this stage of life. Coinciding with these increases is a perceived decrease in young people's quality of life across advanced economies such as the UK, on account of rising economic, social and political precarity. The disparity between the relative stability experienced by previous generations and the instability with which younger generations contend is known in policy spaces as 'intergenerational injustice'. Despite its importance, no study has examined how intergenerational disparities are subjectively impacting young people's mental health. To address this gap, our study sought to understand (1) how intergenerational injustice is subjectively experienced by young people in the UK? and (2) how intergenerational inequities impact young people's mental health.

A qualitative descriptive approach was used. 18 young people participated in semi-structured interviews addressing the research questions. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to generate themes and patterns from the data.

Our analysis generated three interrelated themes: (1) political abandonment, (2) greater precarity around the means to support one's existence and potential, and (3) limited opportunities for living a full, healthy life.

This is the first qualitative study to explore how intergenerational injustice subjectively impacts young people's lives and mental health. Governments, policymakers, and researchers should better address intergenerational inequalities, given the importance of emerging adulthood for life trajectories, including mental health diagnoses.