The Mental Health of the Young in Africa

Growing evidence from around the world suggests the mental health of children and young adults is declining. We examine trends in mental health in Africa where there has been little prior work. We examine data from a number of surveys including Afrobarometers, the Gallup World Poll, the World Values Surveys, UNICEF’s Multiple Cluster Indicator Surveys and Global Minds. We find little support for the proposition that the age structure of wellbeing in Africa has changed over the last decade, although the Global Minds surveys, conducted over the internet, do find mental health improves with age. One potential reason for this is the limited amount of internet access in Africa, especially for women. In countries like Burkina Faso and Guinea the majority of the population say they have never accessed the internet. In a new survey in rural Tanzania, where there is little or no internet access, mental health improves with age. The absence of the internet might help explain why the mental health of young Africans have been declining less than elsewhere other than for the internet savvy. However, there are dangers on the horizon as the sales of smartphones explode in Africa.