Adolescent anxiety and depression are on the rise globally, with concerning implications for their wellbeing. These conditions often coexist, potentially leading to further health issues. Adolescents struggling with anxiety or depression are at increased risk of substance abuse, suicide, difficulties at school, and long-term challenges and adversities.
While individual factors play a role, a comment piece published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health explores an unrealised opportunity – the built environment.
The piece written by researchers at Population Data Science at Swansea University and Natural Resources Wales highlights how our surroundings, from access to green spaces to air quality, can significantly impact adolescent mental health.
While researchers continue to explore the complex causes of these mental health challenges, evidence is emerging that the built environment, which includes air quality, green space, and urban infrastructure, holds the potential to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression in young people.
The authors explore why the built environment is an overlooked factor, existing policies that address the built environment but lack specifics for adolescents, and the need for research that considers diverse contexts and includes adolescent voices.
The article highlights that few countries currently offer built environment guidelines tailored to adolescent needs and promotes increased collaboration between researchers and policymakers to bridge this gap. It calls for targeted research across diverse cultural and geographical settings to create adaptable, globally relevant policies aimed at improving adolescent mental health outcomes.
Dr Amy Mizen, Senior Research Officer at Population Data Science at Swansea University and lead author, said, “Specific features of the built environment can benefit adolescent mental health, and international collaboration is essential in strengthening evidence and informing global policy – with data collection and evaluation playing a crucial role in shaping effective interventions.
By working together, researchers, policymakers, and healthcare professionals can unlock the potential of our towns and cities to support adolescent mental health—building a future where our environments support the wellbeing of young people.'”
Comment pieces are written by experts in the field, and represent their own views, rather than necessarily the views of The Lancet or any Lancet specialty journal. Unlike Articles containing original research, not all Comments are externally peer-reviewed.
Click here to read the full article in the December issue of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.
THELANCETCHILDADOL-D-24-00101R4, Adolescent mental health: building public health policy around the built environment.
Article authors: Dr Amy Mizen (lead author) and Professor Richard Fry – EVHE, Population Data Science at Swansea University; Professor Ann John – DATAMIND, Population Data Science at Swansea University; and Susan Williams – Natural Resources Wales.