UCL analysis on how mental health has evolved across the adult lives of baby boomers and Generation X, highlighting persistent gender and socioeconomic inequalities and a sharp rise in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly five years after the Pandemic lockdowns ended, researchers are still uncovering the pandemic’s long-term mental health effects. This study set out to understand how distress changed not only during that period, but across entire adult life courses and whether long-standing inequalities widened or narrowed over time.
The research draws on data from two nationally representative British birth cohorts: the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. These studies follow individuals born in Britain in a single week in 1958 and 1970, collecting detailed information on their physical and mental health, family life and socioeconomic circumstances.
In total, the team analysed data from 14,182 participants over up to four decades. Using the same validated measure of psychological distress across both cohorts allowed researchers to track changes consistently from early adulthood into midlife ages 23 – 64 for baby boomers and 26–52 for Generation X.
Across both generations, mental health was generally strongest during participants’ 30s. From midlife onwards, average levels of psychological distress began to increase.
During the pandemic, both cohorts experienced a marked surge in distress. In some cases, levels reached, or exceeded, the highest points recorded at any other time in adulthood. Following the end of lockdowns, average distress declined and largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, improvements were smaller among baby boomers, while Generation X showed higher overall distress across adulthood.
A central finding of the study is the enduring impact of gender and early-life socioeconomic disadvantage on mental health. Dr. Moreno Agostino says:
“Women and people from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds continued to experience worse mental health across their adult lives, including after the pandemic. And those inequalities could be traced back to their early lives.”
Additionally, this finding is further emphasized in the study:
“Women and people who grew up in socioeconomically disadvantaged households consistently reported higher psychological distress throughout their lives compared to men and people from more advantaged backgrounds. These inequalities, which were already visible in the participants’ 20s, were still present when they were in their 50s or 60s.”
Among baby boomers, Dr. Moreno-Agostino found that socioeconomic inequalities were particularly pronounced for women. The research suggests that structural factors including unequal access to education, employment opportunities, income and resources likely contribute to these life-long differences.
The comparatively smaller socioeconomic gap among Generation X women may reflect broader societal changes in the late 20th century, such as expanded access to education and employment. This indicates that inequalities are not fixed and can be reduced.
Overall, the findings highlight both the resilience shown by these generations following the pandemic and the lasting influence of social inequality on mental health. Addressing early-life disadvantage and gender inequality will be essential to improving outcomes for future generations.
The original article was published in The Conversation: How mental health has changed in baby boomers and gen X across their entire adulthoods, and also UCL’s News page: An Analysis: How Mental Health Has Changed Across Adulthood for Baby Boomers and Generation X
Image: Teona Swift