The Dunedin youth development organisation is seeing youth issues becoming a problem at a younger age.
General manager Sabra Moore said challenges that used to emerge in 16 to 18-year-olds were now appearing in youth about two years younger.
"We are noticing a considerable trend downwards."
The trust was hoping to find research to understand why issues were becoming present at an earlier age, Mrs Moore said.
Operations manager Garth Hassall said it may be too soon to tell but it seemed some anxiety could have emerged in relation to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, but he had not seen research to confirm this.
One possibility was the phenomenon of "helicopter parenting", a type of behaviour where parents "hover" over their children in an attempt to shield them from pain or disappointment.
"A lot of people out there are ‘doing for’ young people rather than ‘doing with’ young people," Mr Hassall said.
Founded in 1998 by social entrepreneur Malcolm Cameron, the Malcam Trust helps about 2000 youth aged from 12 to 24 each year.
The aim of the trust was to enhance opportunities for young people to make good decisions and start to go places, Mrs Moore said.
"Whatever that looks like for them."
Young people taking part in trust programmes had a range of challenges from mental health to disabilities to simply "doing good but not great", she said.
Some services were by referral from government entities including Oranga Tamariki and the Youth Court, as well as schools.
But there were also opportunities for individuals and parents to get in touch directly, whatever the individual needs of the youth.
The programmes they offered were wide-ranging, from bike mechanics to gardening, carpentry, technology, arts, exercise, wellbeing, cooking, gaming, school camps, social skills and leadership training.
"We are the place where people come when their young person needs help," Mrs Moore said.
