Sapien Labs Releases the 4th Annual Mental State of the World Report
October 10, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Today, Sapien Labs released its 4th Annual Mental State of the World Report, a global study which looks at trends and insights in the mental wellbeing of 419,175 Internet-enabled participants across 71 countries. The key trend from this year’s data is that the dramatic decline in mental wellbeing that occurred between 2019 and 2020, and continued into 2021 through the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to persist with no sign of recovery.
Other highlights from the report:
- Younger generations, particularly those under age 35, saw the steepest declines in mental wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic while those over 65 stayed steady.
- Two key findings published in Rapid Reports in 2023 show that younger age of first smartphone ownership and ultra-processed food consumption are two major contributors to our mental health challenges
- As in previous years, several African and Latin American countries topped the country rankings, while wealthier countries of the Core Anglosphere such as the United Kingdom and Australia are towards the bottom.
“The insights in this report paint a worrying post-pandemic picture and highlight the urgent need to better understand the drivers of our collective mental wellbeing,” says Sapien Labs Founder and Chief Scientist Tara Thiagarajan.
About the study:
This study is part of the Global Mind Project, an ongoing survey of global mental wellbeing, conducted by Sapien Labs. The project acquired data through an assessment that queries 47 aspects of mental function on a life impact scale to create an aggregate mental wellbeing score, the Mental Health Quotient or MHQ, as well as scores of various dimensions of mental function. The assessment can be taken here. In addition, the data from this project is freely available to researchers for noncommercial purpose and access can be requested here. The Global Mind Project also publishes the annual Mental State of the World Report which can be found here.
Supporting materials:
4th Annual Mental State of the World Report
