Table 1.
Psychological distress among young adults aged 16–24 living in England
| Subgroups | Mean GHQ-12 score (range: 0–36) Full sample |
||
| 2009–2010 (n=4587) | 2018–2019 (n=2333) | April–November 2020 (n=2382) | |
| All | 10.4 | 12.1 | 14.0 |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 9.6 | 11.0 | 12.4 |
| Female | 11.1 | 13.0 | 15.2 |
| Age | |||
| 16–18 | 9.5 | 12.3 | 13.3 |
| 19–21 | 10.5 | 11.7 | 13.7 |
| 22–24 | 11.0 | 12.2 | 14.3 |
| Economic activity | |||
| FT employed | 10.1 | 11.2 | 13.0 |
| PT employed | 10.2 | 12.3 | 14.0 |
| Unemployed | 11.1 | 13.4 | 15.2 |
| FT education | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.2 |
| Out of labour force | 12.5 | 15.8 | 16.1 |
| Living arrangements | |||
| With parent(s) | 10.0 | 12.0 | 14.0 |
| Not with parent(s) | 10.9 | 12.5 | 13.7 |
| Parental education | |||
| Degree | 10.4 | 11.9 | 13.5 |
| No degree | 10.2 | 12.2 | 14.3 |
| Area deprivation | |||
| Most deprived | 10.2 | 12.2 | 15.4 |
| Second most deprived | 10.5 | 12.0 | 13.9 |
| Second least deprived | 10.5 | 12.3 | 13.7 |
| Least deprived | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.3 |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White UK | 10.4 | 12.3 | 14.0 |
| White other | 10.5 | 12.6 | 14.6 |
| Mixed | 11.7 | 11.1 | 16.0 |
| Indian | 9.9 | 11.3 | 14.0 |
| Pakistani and Bangladeshi | 10.2 | 10.6 | 13.3 |
| Black | 9.6 | 9.1 | 9.2 |
| Other | 10.4 | 11.0 | 13.9 |
Understanding Society, 2009–2010, 2018–2019 and 2020.
GHQ scores that differed across categories at p<0.05 are in bold.
FT, full time; GHQ-12, 12-Item General Health Questionnaire; PT, part time.