Research
Knowledge fuels meaningful change, and at Innergiving, we believe that research plays a vital role in shaping a more compassionate and impactful world. Our platform features a collection of research studies and insights focused on mental health, philanthropy, human connection, and the science of well-being. By bridging the gap between evidence-based knowledge and real-world action, we empower everyone to make informed decisions that drive lasting change.
➤ Research Organizations (sorted alphabetically)
American Institute for Boys and Men Focus: Boys and Men
The Jed Foundation Focus: Teens and Young Adults
Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Focus: Mental Health Policy Research
Mental Health America (MHA) Focus: All People Living in United States
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Focus: Mental Illness
Orygen Focus: Youth
PLOS Mental Health Focus: Global, Multidisciplinary
The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute Focus: Mental Health Systems
The Trevor Project Focus: LGBTQ+
World Health Organization (WHO) Focus: Mental Health, Brain Health, and Substance Use
➤ Research Papers (sorted newest to oldest)
Workplace Mental Health in 2025: Trends and Best Practices of Top Employers | Mental Health America (MHA) | August 2025 ➤ Sourced from Mental Health America’s (MHA) Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health, MHA’s latest report, Workplace Mental Health in 2025: Trends and Best Practices of Top Employers, offers insights and examples from leading employers to help others advocate for meaningful and strategic investments in employee well-being.
The cultural narrative around work has evolved. Employees now prioritize psychological safety, flexibility, and purpose, shifting mental health from an HR initiative to a key part of business strategy. Employers are also navigating post-pandemic recovery, record-high burnout, economic and political uncertainty, and a rapidly changing workforce.
Workplace mental health is now a business and public health imperative, and forward-thinking employers are rising to the challenge.
Navigating Generative AI and Youth Social Connection: Through Intergenerational Conversation | Foundation for Social Connection in collaboration with Pinterest | July 2025 ➤ The Foundation for Social Connection embarked on an exploration of Generative AI’s impact on social connection, with a focus on younger generations. Our team reviewed published research, interviewed subject matter experts across disciplines, co-hosted intergenerational workshops on AI and social connection, and reviewed topic-relevant social media posts.
This site is meant to be a resource for parents, educators, and other adults who spend time with and care for young people.
We share information about how AI is shaping social connectedness, key insights we discovered about the growing stigma surrounding this topic, the importance of intergenerational conversations to counter it, and our recommended strategies and approaches for talking to young people about this evolving technology.
Throughout the site, we’ve featured intergenerational conversations that expand on the written content and provide anecdotes, lived experiences, and additional insights. As you listen to the conversations, note that they reflect real conversations about this topic and thus may be: imperfect, perhaps a bit messy, rooted in lived experience, and inclusive of differing opinions. We hope it inspires you to engage in imperfect yet powerful conversations like these.
Mental Health Literacy: Young Adult Advocacy Toolkit | Mental Health Literacy Collaborative | June 2025 ➤ This toolkit is designed by young people, for young people, ensuring that every page is infused with real voices, personal lived experiences, and practical, insightful tips you can apply to your everyday life.
We’ve gathered the best of what we know about mental health literacy—the ability to recognize the importance of mental well-being, identify early signs to seek help, reduce stigma, and become the best advocate that you can. Using these fundamentals, you can lead the charge toward a healthier, more caring world for mental health among youth and young adults.
Inside these pages, you’ll find the Four Pillars of Mental Health Literacy, personal testimonials that show you’re not alone on this journey, and practical advocacy tools for speaking up about mental health in your day-to-day, schools, communities, and even government platforms. Whether you’re here to learn how to care for yourself, support a friend, or spark wide-scale change, this toolkit will guide you every step of the way. So, buckle up and get ready to make a difference!
Medicaid is Mental Health - State-by-State Impacts of Proposed Cuts | Inseparable | June 2025 ➤ Medicaid pays for 25% of all mental health care and 40% of all substance use care in this country — and it’s at risk. Without Medicaid, mental health conditions and substance use disorders will go untreated, harming individuals and placing avoidable strain on families, communities, hospitals, state budgets and more.
Medicaid is the backbone of mental health and substance use care in the United States, providing essential support to children, new mothers, seniors, veterans, and families in every state. As the single largest payer for mental health and addiction treatment, Medicaid is a lifeline for millions— offering crucial coverage for challenges such as depression, anxiety, opioid use disorder, postpartum needs, and more. Proposed federal cuts to Medicaid threaten to reverse hard-won progress, putting coverage at risk for the people and communities who need it most.
This report, Medicaid is Mental Health: State-by-State Impacts of Proposed Cuts, uses the best available data to show what is at stake in every state: cuts to Medicaid would make it harder for people to get mental health and substance use care, shift costs onto already-stretched hospitals and taxpayers, and undermine our ability to respond to crises like the opioid epidemic. Reduced access to mental health and substance use care would harm everyone–children, the elderly, veterans, people with disabilities, single parents, and more. Many of us rely on Medicaid. We all love someone who relies on Medicaid.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind | United for Global Mental Health | June 2025 ➤ An estimated 8.4 million people are admitted to mental hospitals across the world every year. They are placed in these institutions for a variety of reasons, not all to do with having a mental health condition. And there are many more people who end up in other formal and non-formal institutions, including community-based institutions, who do not appear in the World Health Organization (WHO) data.
This means that, in any given year, there are more people in institutions for their mental health than there are people in prison for committing crimes.1 People with mental health conditions are part of society and communities – they are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, grandchildren, neighbours, colleagues. Institutionalization removes them from those relationships and sources of support, sometimes for years at a time.
From Loneliness to Social Connection: Charting a Path to Healthier Societies | World Health Organization (WHO) - WHO Commission on Social Connection | June 2025 ➤ This landmark report highlights that social isolation and loneliness are widespread, with serious but under-recognized impacts on health, well-being, and society.
Drawing on the latest evidence, the report makes a compelling case for urgent action. It outlines practical, scalable solutions to strengthen social connection – and calls on policy-makers, researchers and all sectors to treat social health with the same urgency as physical and mental health. The Commissioners envision a future where stronger social bonds improve well-being, reduce preventable deaths, boost education and economic resilience, and ease the social and financial burden of disconnection. This report is a call to act – and an invitation to build a more connected, healthier world.
Thriving in Schools: How Philanthropy Can Support Young Minds | Mindful Philanthropy | May 2025 ➤ Disrupted Lives and Growing Mental Health Challenges. As the COVID-19 pandemic persists in communities across the country, young people today are experiencing some of the most significant disruptions to their daily lives seen in decades.
After nearly two years of unfinished, delayed, or interrupted learning, students are behind both academically and socially, contributing to an alarming increase in youth mental health challenges. These challenges affect young people’s ability to attend school and actively engage in learning, making attention to student mental health crucial to academic achievement.
Changes in students’ mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic are closely tied to their learning: parents whose children have fallen significantly behind academically were one-third more likely to say that they are very or extremely concerned about their children’s mental health.1 Pandemic-related disruptions to the 2020-2021 school year left students, on average, five months behind in mathematics and four months behind in reading. Chronic absenteeism also increased, especially among students in higher grades.2 The impacts of these disruptions on mental health and learning loss are intimately related and experienced by children of all ages, races, and geographies. Every child has the potential to succeed in school. Yet, school success largely depends on the overall social and emotional well-being of children - whether they can show up, engage in classroom learning, and thrive.
School Mental Health Report Card | Inseparable | April 2025 ➤ Policies to Improve Student Wellbeing. Recent data show investments in school-based mental health supports are having a positive impact on our youth. There is still more to be done to ensure every child’s school has effective programs in place that promote mental wellbeing for all students and offer mental health services and support to those who need it.
It is well known that many youth in America are struggling, and most who have mental health conditions are not receiving the care they need. Children and their families often do not know who to turn to, and they are frequently faced with financial barriers, delays in accessing care, and a lack of appropriate mental health care providers.
Providing access to mental health supports where childrenspend much of their time - in schools - helps students buildresilience and coping skills. It also connects students who have mental health concerns and their families to the carethey need sooner. School-based support not only improvesshort and long-term outcomes for the student, it also reduces barriers, like transportation and cost, that prevent many youthfrom getting the care they need in the community. For many students, schools are the primary place they access mental health services.
2025 Mental Health at Work Report | Mind Share Partners in partnership with Qualtrics | April 2025 ➤ This marks our fourth national study of the U.S. workforce–a pulse on mental health and well-being of employees against a backdrop of increasingly intense financial and political uncertainty.
A comprehensive look at the mental health landscape across the U.S. workforce during a time of economic and political uncertainty. Drawing from over 1,100 full-time employees, the report reveals that 90% experience at least minor mental health challenges, with over half reporting moderate to severe burnout, depression, or anxiety. Supportive workplaces are shown to significantly improve well-being, productivity, trust, and retention, while stigma and lack of mental health infrastructure remain widespread. The report emphasizes that flexibility, work-life balance, and inclusive cultures are more impactful than traditional benefits alone and urges employers to lead with values, stay accountable, and foster psychologically safe environments.
Young Men’s Health in a Digital World | Movember | April 2025 ➤ Despite high levels of public interest, there has been a lack of attention given to the voices and experiences of young men engaging with this content and how it is impacting their health. Movember sought to change this by hearing from young men themselves about the influence of this content on their lives and wellbeing.
Social media is an integral part of young men’s lives. Popular influencers creating ‘men and masculinity content’ are amassing millions of young male followers who spend hours a day consuming their videos. Beyond creating engaging content, the appeal of these influencers lies in the online communities they are cultivating, which encourage sharing of ideas, ideologies and connection. For years, these communities were largely limited to fringe, radicalized online subcultures. Yet, in recent years, men and masculinity influencers, and the content they create, are far more present in the lives of young men.
Despite high levels of public interest in online men and masculinity content, there has been a stark lack of attention to the diverse voices and experiences of young men. We have little understanding about what young men think and feel about the men and masculinity content they are consuming and how it is impacting their health outcomes (physical, mental and relational).
This report synthesizes data from over 3,000 young men (aged 16-25 years) in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Our research evidences the role of men and masculinity content, and the influencers creating this content, on the everyday lives of young men, offering new approaches to increasing young men’s wellbeing and reducing associated health harms.
World Happiness Report | About World Happiness | March 2025 ➤ In this year’s issue, we focus on the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness. Like ‘mercy’ in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, caring is “twice-blessed” – it blesses those who give and those who receive. In this report, we investigate both of these effects: the benefits to the recipients of caring behavior and the benefits to those who care for others.
There is a wealth of evidence about the extent of caring behavior around the world. In the Gallup World Poll, people are asked if, in the last month, they gave money to charity, if they volunteered, and if they helped a stranger. They were also asked, in 2019, if they think other people would help them by returning their lost wallet.
Some key findings jump out of the data.
First, people are much too pessimistic about the benevolence of others. For example, when wallets were dropped in the street by researchers, the proportion of returned wallets was far higher than people expected. This is hugely encouraging.
Second, our wellbeing depends on our perceptions of others’ benevolence, as well as their actual benevolence. Since we underestimate the kindness of others, our wellbeing can be improved by receiving information about their true benevolence (see Chapter 5).
Third, when society is more benevolent, the people who benefit most are those who are least happy. As a result, happiness is more equally distributed in countries with higher levels of expected benevolence (see Chapter 2).
Finally, benevolence increased during COVID-19 in every region of the world. People needed more help and others responded. This ‘benevolence bump’ has been sustained since then. Despite a fall from 2023 to 2024, benevolent acts are still about 10% above their pre-pandemic levels (see Chapter 2).
Spotlight: Wellbeing in Schools | HundrED | January 2025 ➤ The International Baccalaureate (IB) is honoured to partner with HundrED in spotlighting innovations that advance student wellbeing in schools worldwide. This collaboration stems from our shared belief that nurturing the whole student is essential not only for academic success but for lifelong fulfilment.
The Findings of the Report
HundrED’s Spotlight on Wellbeing in Schools highlights fifteen impactful and scalable education innovations that address student wellbeing.
The report is divided into three sections. First, we provide an overview of how the concept of wellbeing has evolved and why intentionally incorporating student wellbeing into educational programs is essential. We also explore the global challenges in implementing effective solutions for student wellbeing. In the second section, we hear from various stakeholders, innovators, reviewers, and members of the HundrED community around the world, offering local, often classroom-level perspectives on the issue. In the final section, we showcase the fifteen selected innovations working to improve student wellbeing, chosen using the “Wellbeing Framework” posed by the Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford, in their report, Wellbeing in Education in Childhood and Adolescence.
2024 Annual Report | Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) | January 2025 ➤ The report summarizes data contributed to CCMH during the 2023-2024 academic year, beginning July 1, 2023 and ending on June 30, 2024. De-identified data were contributed by 213 college and university counseling centers, describing 173,536 unique college students seeking mental health treatment, 4,954 clinicians, and 1,215,151 appointments.
Key highlights include:
Focus on students with suicidal or self‑injurious histories: The report explores clinical characteristics, presenting concerns, stressors, service use, and outcomes among this high-risk group.
Clinical Load Index (CLI): Updated data from 696 centers revealed an average annual caseload of 92 clients per counselor, with a standard deviation of 35 — informing staffing benchmarks.
Diagnosis prevalence and trends: Anxiety (45.1%), depression (31.9%), and adjustment disorders (29.2%) were the most common diagnoses. About 34.6% of students received multiple diagnoses, and 17.3% were classified with serious mental illness. Since 2015, anxiety, adjustment, neurodevelopmental, and OCD‑related disorders have increased, while depression, substance use, and bipolar disorders have declined.
In summary, the report underscores the extensive utilization of counseling services, a growing caseload per counselor, a significant presence of students with elevated suicide risk, and evolving trends in mental health diagnoses among college students.
Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force | Bipartisan Policy Center | January 2025 ➤ This is the second of three reports from BPC’s Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force. The first addressed safe and secure social media use, and the third will cover prevention and early identification of mental health and substance use disorders.
The challenges facing youth today are daunting and widespread: Many struggle with their mental health and substance use. A national survey showed that nearly all indicators of poor mental health for teens worsened from 2013-2023—including increases in the percentage of high school students who experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness (rising from 30% to 40% over the 10-year period). The 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that a larger percentage of young adults ages 18-25 have a substance use disorder (27.8%) than any other age group. Although COVID-19 placed unprecedented stress on youth, these trends were in motion long before the pandemic began in 2020. Fortunately, these trends are also treatable—and sometimes preventable—with a health care delivery system that is primed and ready to tackle the unique needs of youth and their families.
A common refrain among child-serving health care professionals is that the health care system and its financing mechanisms are not designed to optimally serve youth and their families. BPC’s Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force aims to change that.
Over the past year, the task force convened over 50 experts and thought leaders from across the health care spectrum: health professionals, children’s hospitals, payers, consumer advocates, youth, and caregivers, as well as Republicans, Democrats, and independents. They considered how to maximize the potential of the U.S. health care system to better serve youth and to formulate recommendations for the next administration and Congress.
Youth Mental Health Tracker | Surgo Health | December 2024 ➤ A comprehensive and actionable mental health and wellbeing data platform to empower equitable, youth-centered solutions.
Our youth are our future. Our data shows that young people don’t feel heard and their voices are key to supporting them to thrive. Hear their stories to learn what truly makes a difference.
Outcomes | What is the state of youth mental health & wellbeing today? Despite 45% of youth reporting mental health challenges, a majority of youth are optimistic about their future. This dual reality underscores the importance of holistic approaches to youth mental health and wellbeing. We must understand both to help youth thrive.
The State of Mental Health in America | Mental Health America (MHA) | July 2024 ➤ This report provides a snapshot of mental health status for policy and program planning, analysis, and evaluation.
Our report is a collection of data across all 50 states and the District of Columbia and seeks to answer the following questions: • How many adults and youth have mental health issues? • How many adults and youth have substance use issues? • How many adults and youth have access to insurance? • How many adults and youth have access to adequate insurance? • How many adults and youth have access to mental health care? • Which states have higher barriers to accessing mental health care?
2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People | The Trevor Project | May 2024 ➤ The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People amplifies the experiences of more than 18,000 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13 to 24 across the United States.
For the sixth year, the U.S. National Survey uncovers the reality that there is a significant association between anti-LGBTQ+ victimization and the disproportionately high rates of suicide risk — and that far too many young people struggle to access the mental health care they need.
The survey critically provides data-driven ways we can all show support and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ young people in our lives, based on their own responses — as well as the potentially life-saving benefits of creating affirming spaces and communities.
For the first time, we asked respondents to share a message of advice or encouragement to other young people in the LGBTQ+ community. There is no doubt that this has been a challenging year for LGBTQ+ young people. Yet despite these challenges, including the historic wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that has targeted them, these young people remain powerful, optimistic, and resilient. The Trevor Project remains unwavering in our commitment to support them, and we will continue fighting toward a world where all LGBTQ+ young people feel safe, accepted, and loved exactly as they are.
In Abundance | An Analysis of the Thriving Landscape of Collective Giving in the U.S. | Johnson Center, Colmena-Consulting, and Philanthropy Together | April 2024 ➤ In Abundance: An Analysis of the Thriving Landscape of Collective Giving in the U.S. explores the transformative impact of collective giving on philanthropy.
Practiced in cultures all around the world, collective giving brings people together to pool their resources, including time, talent, treasure, testimony, and ties — often referred to as the 5Ts. Groups like giving circles, SVP chapters, giving projects, and nonprofit-led circles have long served as democratic and philanthropic learning hubs — bringing historically marginalized voices into philanthropic decision-making spaces, challenging preconceived notions of who is considered a philanthropist, and elevating members as integral actors in our sector’s efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in giving.
A partnership between the Johnson Center, Colmena-Consulting, and Philanthropy Together, this report underscores collective giving groups’ role in reshaping philanthropic practices, fostering social connections, and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.
A Roadmap for Strategic Investment | Mindful Philanthropy | November 2023 ➤ Building on The Case for Philanthropic Investment, the second guidance in the Mental Health at the Center series helps new and existing funders prioritize investments in support of mental health that are most likely to make a difference. These priorities are not only critical standalone issues, but they are key to population level outcomes.
We have the knowledge and resources, yet no collective strategy to address the mental health needs of all people at all levels of severity. Philanthropy must seize this moment of opportunity and meet the growing need with a proportional, coordinated response in order to prevent, mitigate, and address the growing mental health challenges in the United States. In this guide, we build on The Case for Philanthropic Investment in mental health examined in part one of this series, helping both new and existing funders to prioritize investments in support of mental health that are most likely to make a difference. These priorities are not only critical standalone issues, but they are key to progress in numerous social issue areas.
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