A new study warns half of Australian teens will experience anxiety or depression by age 20, driven by bullying, poverty and racism, with prevention programmes offering major economic benefits.

MELBOURNE: Half of Australian teenagers are projected to experience anxiety or depression by the age of 20, a new study has warned.

The research identifies bullying, poverty and racism as key drivers of this mental health crisis.

The study, led by Australia’s Burnet Institute, found school-based initiatives were the most cost-effective prevention programmes.

These include bullying prevention, racism education and social and emotional learning to build resilience from early childhood.

Interventions addressing early risk factors like child maltreatment and family financial stress also showed strong returns.

The findings were published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

Young people exposed to bullying, racial discrimination or maltreatment face about three times higher risks of developing common mental disorders.

“Real progress means preventing harm before it starts,” said study co-author Professor Susan Sawyer.

She is the director of the Centre for Adolescent Health at Australia’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Sawyer emphasised investing in interventions that address the conditions putting young people at risk.

The study’s new modelling found investing between AUD 50 million and AUD 1 billion annually into prevention programmes could prevent up to 787,000 cases by 2050.

This investment could deliver up to AUD 74 billion in societal economic benefits.

 The Sun Malaysia