The YMHT survey is a comprehensive study conducted between April and May 2024 to understand youth mental health and wellbeing across the U.S. We gathered insights from youth aged 10-24 through a combination of phone interviews, online panels, and social media outreach.

Participants were recruited from two   sources:

• NORC Recruitment: Using panelists from AmeriSpeak and Prodege, youth aged 10-24 were recruited through both telephone and online surveys. Surveys were available in both English and Spanish. We finalized our sample to 2,816 participants from NORC recruitment.

• Social Media Recruitment: Youth aged 13-24 were reached through partnerships with 19 influencers on Instagram and TikTok, as well as paid ads, directing participants to an online survey. These surveys were available in English. We finalized our sample to 1,693 participants from social media recruitment.

Yes, we prioritized sampling BIPOC youth, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth experiencing financial difficulties to ensure their voices were well represented. However, we couldn’t present results for certain BIPOC subgroups, such as American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern/North African youth, due to small sample sizes (N<30).

The survey collected data on:

• Demographics

• Mental wellbeing and health perceptions

• Participation in youth-driven mental health strategies

• Risk and protective factors for mental health

• Negative life experiences

• Pathways to accessing and receiving mental health care

We received guidance from our expert advisory board as well as our youth advisory board. In addition, Surgo received IRB certification from Advarra IRB. Sensitive questions were followed by information about crisis resources, including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line, ensuring participants knew where to access support if needed. The survey was stopped for individuals who mentioned suicidality or self harm: they were directed to crisis resources while still receiving full compensation for survey participation.

To ensure high-quality data, we used stringent participant verification procedures like verifying location via IP address, removing duplicate IP addresses, using RECAPTCHA, and verifying age, to remove bots and bad actors. Following verification and obtaining participant consent, data cleaning included removing straightliners, speeders, and failed attention checks.

Survey data was weighted to align with U.S. population demographics and attitudes using raking and post-stratification calibration. Analysis included extracting descriptives for prevalence estimates and regressions to identify key risk and protective factors for youth mental health and wellbeing outcomes.

Quotes were gathered from free-text survey responses and qualitative interviews conducted with U.S. youth aged 13-19, recruited by Peer Health Exchange.

Yes, the study (including both the survey and qualitative interviews) was reviewed and approved by both the NORC Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Advarra IRB to ensure adherence to ethical standards.

ThriveAtlas™ a powerful, county level tool to measure the upstream factors at a community level putting young people at risk of thriving. This hyperlocal tool has measures for 3,141 counties across the U.S and provides policymakers, advocates, and community leaders with critical insights to drive targeted solutions. By uncovering the specific needs of each county, we empower stakeholders to close the mental health gap and create pathways for all young people to thrive.

Surgo Health’s ThriveAtlas™ data comes from 8 sources and contains 25 indicators capturing a wide range of factors, leveraging publicly available data as well as Surgo Health’s proprietary data. Indicators were carefully selected based on existing literature and available datasets to ensure relevance and accuracy. For some indicators, we applied Small Area Estimation methods to generate county-level estimates.

Youth mental wellbeing is complex so it is impossible to capture every possible factor in an index; we focused on the main drivers for which data is available. Data quality also varies across regions. Future efforts will aim to integrate more indicators and self-reported data as they become available.

If you’d like more details about our methodology, please review them here. Still have questions? Please write to us at ymht@surgohealth.com.