Parents are being urged to engage with their children about prolonged social media and smart phone use after Queensland research found more than half of young people feel stressed and anxious.
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard says it is impossible to ignore the negative impacts of smart phone and social media use for a generation being raised through technology.
"They have an amplifying negative effect that is not seen with technologies such as radio and television," Dr Gerrard told reporters on Tuesday.
His comments come after research by Health and Wellbeing Queensland revealed nine in 10 participants aged between 14 and 25 have experienced a negative change in their wellbeing in the past year.
More than half are feeling stressed and anxious, the report shows.
More than half of the 1424 young Queenslanders surveyed felt tired for no reason and that everything was an effort over a four week period.
It also found one in 10 felt depressed all the time.
The research suggested increased stress and poorer diets may be negatively impacting the mental health of the younger generation.
Women and girls aged 14 to 25 were also more likely to experience poorer wellbeing impacts.
Dr Gerrard has met with Commonwealth agencies in discussing issues that are being felt by young people worldwide.
"Most measures are improving rapidly," Dr Gerrard said of other health conditions.
"The mental health of young people stands out in-so-far as it is getting worse, and it is getting worse very rapidly, and it appears to be a very real phenomenon.
"That's why it's so important that we have this conversation across the community, so that parents feel empowered to do things like this."
Nationally, 38.8 per cent of 16–24 year olds had a mental health issue between 2020-2022 according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Women were nearly 10 per cent more likely to see a clinician for a mental health issue compared to men, the bureau reported.
Gemma Hodgetts from Health and Wellbeing Queensland warned the stark numbers are a red flag of a generation burnt out and in need of help.
"This cohort is so important to us because 75 per cent of mental health disorders emerge before our Queenslanders turn 24," she said.
"To support the future generation of young people...we need to act now to support individual, community and population health and wellbeing."
