More young people experience mental distress in the Nordic countries. A new mapping provides insight into a number of risk factors, which include excessive use of digital media, loneliness and various social conditions. Protective factors include good relationships in school and physical activity.

Mental distress does not only affect the well-being of young people in everyday life. There is also a risk that, if not treated early, it can lead to severe mental illness and social marginalization in adolescence and adulthood.The paper that does not directly identify the causes, summarizes what the studies can say about connections between a number of categories of risk and protective factors and different expressions of mental difficulties or poor well-being.