Levels of psychological distress for young adults were high and not recovering despite stabilising for other age groups between August and October 2020. Victorians’ mental health outcomes were also worse than for the rest of Australia.
11.8
Levels of psychological distress (measured on the Kessler 6 scale) for Australia as a whole stabilised (at an average of 11.8) between August and October
30
%
While distress levels stabilised for Victorians as well, there were at least 30% more likely to feel worse on measures of psychological distress
15.7
Those aged 28-24 experienced a large increase in psychological distress from August (14.6) to October (15.7)
21
%
Distress levels for young adults was 21% worse than pre-COVID levels measures in February 2017