Source: European Parliament
Youth mental ill-health in the EU-27 is high, rising and increasingly associated with digital environments. This study shows how persuasive platform design, harmful content and emerging AI-mediated interactions amplify offline vulnerabilities in the context of under-resourced, fragmented services and a large ‘missing middle’ between schools and specialist care. Using seven country case studies and an EU-27 cost model, it estimates that youth mental ill-health will cost about €1.68 trillion over 2024-2033 if current policies continue. It proposes a coherent package of EU-level options, school-based promotion, youth-friendly early-intervention services, social prescribing, safer digital tools, child-centred enforcement of the digital acquis and stronger data and governance, that could reduce this burden while respecting EU competences and fundamental rights.
KOREIMANN-ÖZKAN CLAUDIA SUSANNE
European Added Value