Debate: Young people are living in unprecedented times – too much chaos or too little resilience?: No Pain, No Gain? Why articulating distress marks youth resilience
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Abstract
Rising levels of anxiety and depression among children and adolescents are increasingly cited as evidence that today's youth are growing up in a world of unprecedented chaos and diminishing resilience. Yet, this interpretation rests on a fragile assumption: that greater expression of distress necessarily signals weaker coping. In this debate article, we argue the opposite. Drawing on long-term epidemiological trends, developmental theory, and recent evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic, we suggest that young people today may not be less resilient than previous generations, but more capable of recognizing, articulating, and responding to emotional strain. In this sense, the growing visibility of distress may mark not failure, but progress: a generation that has learned to give language to pain as part of adaptive development.
期刊介绍：
Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) publishes high quality, peer-reviewed child and adolescent mental health services research of relevance to academics, clinicians and commissioners internationally. The journal''s principal aim is to foster evidence-based clinical practice and clinically orientated research among clinicians and health services researchers working with children and adolescents, parents and their families in relation to or with a particular interest in mental health. CAMH publishes reviews, original articles, and pilot reports of innovative approaches, interventions, clinical methods and service developments. The journal has regular sections on Measurement Issues, Innovations in Practice, Global Child Mental Health and Humanities. All published papers should be of direct relevance to mental health practitioners and clearly draw out clinical implications for the field.
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