Gen Z Remains Fearful, But Scripture Halves Anxiety, Study Shows
Generation Z, the first to grow up with smartphones and tablets, is the most fearful and anxious of any age, the American Bible Society said in its latest release from the 2024 State of the Bible.
But regular Bible engagement, a practice that attracts only 11 percent of Gen Z, reduces anxiety by half and can improve other markers of emotional health, study authors said in releasing chapter six of the study Sept. 12.
“Our youngest adults (ages 18-27) have more fears, greater anxiety, lower self-esteem and less affirmation from peers than any older generation. This news sounds an alarm for all Christians to do what they can to help,” said John Plake, ABS chief innovation officer and State of the Bible editor in chief. “The good news is that our data shows the Bible makes a major difference. For instance, Gen Z reports far more clinical anxiety symptoms than any older group. But young adults who engage with the Bible — reading it regularly and applying it to their lives — experience half the anxiety of their peers.”
Scripture engaged Gen Z can score just as well as any other group on several measures of emotional health, but the group ranks lowest in Scripture engagement among all generations. As such, all findings regarding Bible engaged Gen Z members are from a comparatively small cohort, study authors said.
Extreme fears of grief and loss, family stress or trauma, and financial stress or hardship are chief among their concerns, cited among nearly a third of Gen Z respondents, followed by moderate levels of fears of those matters among 45 percent of Gen Z, study authors said.
Researchers gauged anxiety on a scale of 0-20, based on responses to five questions about clinical symptoms of anxiety. Overall, Gen Z fell at 6.6 on the anxiety scale, followed by Millennials at 6.1, Gen X at 5, and Boomers+ at 3.3.
Differences were found when Gen Z was separated into older and younger groups and by gender, but study authors were careful to draw conclusions, based on the small size of the study subset. Still, older female Gen Z members, ages 23 -27, scored 7.9 on the anxiety scale, compared to young Gen Z females, who scored 6.6.
“The Bible says, ‘God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to Him’ (1 Peter 5:7); ‘Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything’ (Philippians 4:6); and ‘Don’t worry about tomorrow’ (Matthew 6:34). From these and another dozen references, we see the Bible promoting trust and prayer as powerful responses to anxiety,” study authors wrote. “So, do people who engage with Scripture report less anxiety? Yes, and the difference is stunning.”
Bible-engaged Gen Z members, on the whole, ranked 3.4 on the anxiety scale, about the same as Bible-engaged Boomers+, 3.1. But Bible-disengaged Gen Z members registered anxiety levels of 7.1.
Gen Z is the least likely to turn to the faith community and medical professionals for help navigating mental health issues, researchers found. Instead, Gen Z is more apt to turn to a trusted family member or social media for help, although only 15 percent of Gen Z would turn to social media platforms for help.
Regarding fears, financial stress or hardship strikes extreme fear in 31 percent of Gen Z, compared to 21 percent of Gen X, 20 percent of Millennials and 12 percent of Boomers.
Grief and loss? Thirty-one percent of Gen Z are extremely fearful, outpacing 21 percent of Millennials, 19 percent of Gen X and 14 percent of Boomers. Extreme fear of family stress or trauma befalls 29 percent of Gen Z, 20 percent of Millennials, 19 percent of Gen X and 10 percent of Boomers.
Other concerns cited, all falling below 20 percent for all generations, were fears of physical and sexual assault, verbal attacks or bullying; racism, bigotry or discrimination; or fear of hostility from people one has offended. People are fearful of war and civil unrest, mass shootings and the effects of global warming.
Among other findings, all of which study authors said can inform ministry outreach:
— 52 percent of Americans have personally experienced or witnessed trauma, and a fifth are affected by it most or all of the time.
— 23 percent of Gen Z say trauma overwhelmingly impacts their lives.
— Millennials, at 27 percent, are the most likely to have met with a mental health counselor in the past year; followed by Gen Z at 24 percent, Gen X at 23 percent, and Boomers+ at 12 percent.
State of the Bible is based on a nationally representative survey conducted for ABS by NORC (previously the National Opinion Research Center) at the University of Chicago, using the AmeriSpeak panel. Findings are based on 2,506 online interviews conducted in January 2024 with adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
This article has been republished with permission from Baptist Press.
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.