Youth's mental health in France after the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from the repeated CASSANDRE surveys

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the prevalence of mental disorders, especially in young adults. Our goal was to monitor the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms among young adults in the Ile-de-France region between 2022 and 2024. We conducted three surveys (December 2022, December 2023, and November 2024) among individuals aged 18 to 30. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) and asked about suicidal ideation for the past 12 months. Surveys 1 and 2 included 500 young people and 990. Survey 3 included 839 participants from the Île-de-France region and 809 participants from the rest of France. The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms increased from 38 % to 48 % and from 29 % to 39 % respectively, between 2022 and 2024. Furthermore, in 2024, 30 % had suicidal thoughts in the last 12 months, and 17 % had already received psychotropic medication. Women experienced more symptoms than men, and 18–24-year-olds >25–30-year-olds. Despite the remoteness of the pandemic, the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms continues to rise among young people. It suggests that the ‘young mental health crisis’ is likely to continue to worsen.