For their report, researchers evaluated the mental health of over 3,000 teens.
Prioritizing your mental health is beneficial in so many ways and a recent study shows that this can be critical for teens dealing with stress as they prepare to enter the working world.
In a recent study published in the journal PLOS Medicine, researchers show that teens struggling with anxiety or depression are less likely to join the workforce when they become young adults, and when they do, there's a chance they will earn less money.
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Researchers used data from a Bureau of Labor Statistics study from 2000 and they assessed the mental health of more than 3,000 15 to 17-year-olds, focusing on questions about their levels of anxiety and depression.
The team then examined employment records of those teens 10 years later, when they were young adults, evaluating how their mental health history may affect their job prospects.
The study found that 6% fewer individuals had a job as a young adult if they experienced clinical anxiety or depression as a teen.
Moreover, young adults who experienced psychological stress as teens earned a little over $5,600 less in pay than those who didn't deal with this type of stress.
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Researchers estimate that if a nationwide mental health expansion policy could reach 10% of teens dealing with stress, the "labor supply impacts alone" would lead to an additional $52 billion in federal revenue over 10 years, according to the study.
What they're saying: While researchers acknowledge limitations in their study, they explain that their results support efforts like a 2023 law passed by Congress investing $60 million yearly in U.S. mental health care. The team said in the study that the policy is designed to expand access to mental health care at a rate of about 500 people for every $1 million spent.
Researchers also concluded in their report that psychological distress during adolescence may lead to later economic and health consequences that are relevant to the U.S. economy and federal budget within 10 years.
The team noted that a policy could produce population-level reductions in adolescent psychological distress, and possibly have substantial 10-year federal budget impacts.