A third of French people aged 11 to 24 show signs of anxiety or depressive disorders, and girls are almost twice as affected as boys, according to preliminary results released Friday from a large study still underway.
“More than a third of young people show signs of moderate to severe anxiety-depressive psychological distress (MSD),” summarizes a press release presenting some results of this study, called Mentalo, and carried out by researchers from Inserm and the University of Paris-Cité.
This study, which aims to establish a reference on the mental state of young French people, is conducted via an internet platform through which young people are questioned seven times a year.
"The goal of this longitudinal study is to look at the fluctuations and find causal relationships," stressed Karine Chevreul, director of the Mentalo project and professor of public health, on Friday, ahead of the presentation of the results.
The researchers have not yet produced a scientific publication based on this study, which is scheduled to run until 2026 and has so far gathered 17,000 participants.
But they decided to communicate initial results to the public on this World Mental Health Day, a subject designated in France as a major national cause for 2025.
The psychological state of young people regularly raises concerns, particularly since the health crisis stemming from Covid in the early 2020s.
According to figures released on Friday, girls are almost twice as likely (45% compared to 27% of boys) to show signs of psychological distress, and the transition to high school appears as "a pivotal moment", with an increase of 50% in these disorders.
Distress also varies according to social level: seven out of ten young French people whose families are in great financial difficulty exhibit a DMS, compared to three out of ten from a wealthy family.
"Screen use has a strong link to the mental well-being of young people," the press release also points out. Among young people who spend more than 7 hours a day on a screen, 60% are at risk of psychological distress.
But "young people do better when their main screen time is spent doing cultural and sporting activities or doing research and getting informed than when it is to follow influencers or watch random or continuous videos," the statement clarifies.
To support young people, researchers will launch Mental+, a coaching application to "take stock of oneself".
English 
French