Nearly 80% of teenagers and young adults say the coronavirus pandemic is still having a detrimental effect on their mental health, a new survey has found.

Just over half of youngsters (51%) described their overall mental health as good while 14% rated it as bad or very bad.

However, five in six (83%) said they were generally happy with their lives while nearly half said the lockdowns had had some beneficial effects, mainly on their own development.

The figures are included in the latest edition of the Monitor of Young Adult Health (Gezondheidsmonitor Jongvolwassenen), conducted by the local health service network GGD.

More than 135,000 people aged between 16 and 25 were questioned about their  mental health in April and May last year.

Overall the figures show an improvement in young people’s mental health since the last survey in 2022, the last year of pandemic restrictions. Some 23% of respondents said they felt extremely lonely, down from 27% two years ago, while 63% said they often felt happy in the last four weeks, compared to 56% in 2022.

Teenagers and young adults said the legacy of the pandemic restrictions between 2020 and 2022 was still having an impact on their personal development, the progress of their studies and their social contacts.

But 43% said they were often stressed by school or work while 56% said they often felt under pressure to achieve, either from themselves or others.

Over-21s scored worse because they were more likely to have concerns about living alone and the cost of living. There were also regional differences, with people living in Zuid-Holland, Noord-Brabant and Groningen faring worst.

Andre Rouvoet, chair of GGD GHOR, the umbrella organisation for local health boards, said: “These figures give hope, but at the same time they show that action is needed at the national and local political level on the mental health of their young residents.”