National, March 1: Young adults in India have ranked 60th out of 84 countries in the latest Mind Health Quotient (MHQ) assessment, highlighting a pronounced generational gap in mental well-being.
The findings are part of the Global Mind Health 2025 report by US-based Sapien Labs, based on data from more than one million internet-enabled respondents across 84 nations during 2024 and 2025. Indians aged 18–34 recorded an average MHQ score of 33, placing them in the “Distressed or Struggling” category. In contrast, those aged above 55 scored close to 100 on average, falling within the “Managing or Succeeding” range. Older Indians ranked 49th globally.
The report notes that this generational divide is consistent worldwide, with the 18–34 age group performing worse than older adults in every country surveyed.
Tara Thiagarajan, founder and chief scientist at Sapien Labs, said adults aged 55 and older have maintained stable scores of around 100 since measurements began in 2019, aligning with expected norms on the MHQ scale. She added that young adults under 35 were already struggling relative to older generations before the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced a sharp decline during the pandemic from which they have not recovered.
Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania, recorded comparatively stronger outcomes. At the lower end of the rankings were Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and China. Finland, often ranked highly in global life satisfaction indices, placed 28th for those above 55 and 40th for the 18–34 group in mind health scores.
According to the report, the decline in youth mental well-being appears more pronounced in wealthier and more developed countries. Thiagarajan emphasised that solutions must address root causes rather than merely treat symptoms. Over the past four years, the research has examined how diminished family bonds, reduced spirituality, early smartphone exposure and rising consumption of ultra-processed food may be contributing to the trend.
Family relationships emerged as a critical factor. Respondents with poor family ties were almost four times more likely to fall into the distressed or struggling category. About 44 per cent of those who did not get along with anyone in their family had low MHQ scores, compared with 12 per cent among those close to many family members. An India-focused analysis found that family closeness had a far stronger link to mind health and well-being than income levels.
Nearly 64 per cent of Indian respondents aged 18–34 reported being close to their families, compared with around 78 per cent among those above 55. The average global age for receiving a first smartphone was 14, while in India it was 16.5. Consumption of ultra-processed food was also higher among young Indian adults at 44 per cent, compared with 11 per cent among older respondents.
The report also questioned the effectiveness of rising mental health expenditure in Western nations. It noted that the United States spent USD 2.2 billion on mental health research in 2024 and more than USD 100 billion annually on treatment for adults, amounting to over USD 1 trillion over the past decade. In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service spent GBP 12 billion on mental health services in 2021–22.
Despite this scale of investment, the report stated that outcomes have not significantly improved and remain worse than in several countries with comparatively low per capita spending, suggesting that current models have delivered only incremental symptom relief without addressing deeper underlying causes.
