Mental Health of Young Australians during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Roles of Employment Precarity, Screen Time, and Contact with Nature

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is widely understood to have contributed to mental health problems. In Australia, young people (18-24 years) have been disproportionately affected. To date, research has predominantly focused on the presence or absence of mental illness symptoms, while aspects of mental well-being have been overlooked. We aimed to explore associations between potential risk and protective factors and mental health more comprehensively, using the Complete State Model of Mental Health. An online survey of 1004 young Australians (55% female; M age = 21.23) was undertaken. Assessment of both mental illness and mental well-being enabled participants to be cross-classified into four mental health states. Those with 'Floundering' (13%) or 'Struggling' (47.5%) mental health reported symptoms of mental illness; a 'Languishing' group (25.5%) did not report symptoms of mental illness but mental well-being was compromised relative to those who were 'Flourishing' (14%) with high mental well-being. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine associations, adjusting for socio-demographic confounders. Protective factors associated with Flourishing mental health included being in secure employment, using screen time to connect with others, and reporting high levels of hope. Both incidental and purposive contact with nature were also associated with Flourishing, while a lack of green/bluespace within walking distance was associated with Languishing, absence of outdoor residential space was associated with Floundering, and lower neighbourhood greenness was associated with all three suboptimal mental health states. Precarious employment, financial stress, living alone, reporting decreased screen time during lockdowns, lower levels of hope, and high disruption of core beliefs were also associated with Struggling and Floundering mental health. Those who were Languishing reported somewhat less hardship and little disruption to core beliefs, but lower levels of hope compared to young people who were Flourishing. This study highlights that young adults require dedicated mental health services to deal with current burden, but should also be supported through a range of preventive strategies which target mental health risk factors, like precarious employment, and enhance protective factors, such as urban green infrastructure.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; core beliefs; emerging adulthood; employment; hope; mental health; nature; precarity; screen time; young people.

Figure 1

Proportion of sample cross-classified into each of the Complete State Model of Mental Health [44,45,47,48] mental health states during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 2

Employment precarity by mental health state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 3

Financial stress by mental health state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 4

Changes in overall daily screen time during COVID-19 lockdowns/restrictions by mental health state.

Figure 5

Purposive contact with nature during COVID-19 lockdowns/restrictions by mental health state.

Figure 6

Level of hope and disruption of core beliefs by mental health state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Top left-hand corner corresponds to high levels of hope and low disruption of core beliefs. Bottom right-hand corner corresponds to low levels of hope and high disruption of core beliefs. Greyscale represents the four mental health states.