We’re proud to share our latest report with you, Kind Communities: Kindness and Mental Health in Young People’s Personal Lives and Relationships, a continuation of our 2017 Kind Communities study which seeks to understand the factors that impact youth mental health and underscores the importance of kindness in our society. In this third installment of our 2023 Kind Communities report series, we explore kindness and mental health in young people’s personal lives, observing their relationships with parents or guardians, friends, and peer groups.
A few highlights from our report:
- Young people know kindness is important for their mental health. 75% of young people engage in acts of kindness to support their mental health and well-being.
- Young people make the effort to be kind to friends. 81% of young people often or always make an effort to be kind to their close friends.
- Young people’s close friends are a comfort. Nearly three out of four (68%) young people say their close friends are often or always a source of comfort.
- Transgender and nonbinary young people are less likely to experience kindness and/or comfort from family members. Only 54% of transgender and nonbinary young people say their parents or guardians frequently make an effort to be kind to them. Less than half of transgender or nonbinary young people say their parents/guardians (35%) or siblings (41%) are an ongoing source of comfort.
- For transgender, nonbinary, and BIPOC young people, their online community is a comfort. Over half of young people who are transgender and nonbinary (55%) or BIPOC (54%) indicated their online community was a source of comfort.
Click here to read the full report.
We hope when you read this report, you understand the power of your kindness in uplifting members of your community, especially those who are from historically marginalized or excluded backgrounds. Within this report, we also include resources and suggestions for ways you can take kind action in support of your own and others’ mental health.
Thank you for everything you do to build a kinder, braver world.