Rojas Arangoitia, V. y Flores, E. C. (2025). Salud mental juvenil en crisis: Cuando la pandemia amplifica desigualdades estructurales. Análisis & Propuestas, (74), 1-4.

The covid-19 pandemic had a severe effect on the mental health of vulnerable young women in Peru, exacerbating symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress. This qualitative study, based on the lived experience approach, analyses the trajectories of two young Peruvian women – one from a rural and one from an urban context – participants in the Young Lives (NdM for its acronyms in Spanish) study, who faced persistent impairments to their emotional well-being during the health crisis. Their accounts reveal three key factors behind their distress: domestic overload, economic precariousness and barriers to accessing psychological care. These are intertwined with structural gender inequalities, poverty and violence. The study highlights the need for public policies that recognise mental health as a right, promote intersectional approaches and expand access to culturally relevant services. Listening to the voices of those who have suffered is crucial to prevent future crises from reproducing pre-existing exclusions.