Navigating Societal Challenges during Adolescence and Young Adulthood: The Impact on Wellbeing Through Microsystem Mechanisms in the Family Environment

Around the globe, today’s generation of adolescents and young adults appear to experience more mental health problems than previous generations, and it is currently unclear why. Neuroimaging research has revealed vulnerabilities related to adolescents’ brain development, which gives insight into the development of mental health problems in adolescence. Neural changes, as part of normative development, can however not fully explain the rising trends. This paper outlines two important considerations: i) youth are currently dealing with various macro-level changes and ii) these changes are affecting youth through micro-system mechanisms in the family environment. First, the current generation of youth grow up in a society marked by multiple global changes like climate change, wars, poverty, and the aftermath of a pandemic. These macro-level changes can interfere with daily live and subsequently affect how youth feel about themselves, their lives, and their future, particularly through experiences of future uncertainty. Thus, it is important to gain understanding on how youth navigate through challenging times. However, not all youth are affected equally. As such the second focus of this paper is to shed light on which adolescents are prone to negative developmental outcomes. In the present perspective paper, we reflect on adolescence as a sensitive period for mental health problems and give an overview of how the macro-level influences of societal challenges, and micro-level influences in the family environment uniquely contribute and sometimes interact to shape youth’s wellbeing. Additionally, we discuss how providing youth with opportunities for inclusive prosocial actions may improve their wellbeing and elucidate how a more global perspective on studying youth’s wellbeing benefits research and practice.