The kids aren’t alright. Our nation’s young people are suffering. America’s teens are experiencing profound sadness and hopelessness, seriously considering suicide, and attempting suicide at unprecedented rates. Teen girls’ and LGBQ+ students’ mental health is especially poor. Teens’ mental health declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was going downhill long before social distancing and virtual learning.
Most indicators of adolescent health and well-being deteriorated between 2011 to 2021, according to data from the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Condom usage, HIV testing, experiences of violence, mental health, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors worsened significantly. In today’s column, I’ll just focus on poor mental health among teens.
Mental health among teens is poor and getting worse. In 2021, 42% of high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless that they could not engage in their regular activities for at least two weeks during the year. 22% of high school students seriously considered suicide and 10% reported attempting suicide during the last year.
Mental health is worse among teen girls than boys. 57% of high school girls experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 30% seriously considered suicide, and 13% attempted suicide during the past year.
Similarly, mental health is even worse among LGBQ+ students. 69% experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 45% seriously considered suicide, and 22% attempted suicide during the past year.
Several compounding factors shape young people’s behaviors and experiences. Adolescents who feel that people at their school care about them, their well-being, and their success have better mental health outcomes. As you might guess from the data that I’ve shared, girls and LGBQ+ students were less likely to report feeling close to people at school.
Similarly, housing stability is correlated with mental health outcomes. Teens who face housing instability have worse mental health outcomes. LGBQ+ youth experienced higher than average rates of housing instability.
Things are getting worse for young people, not better. Rates of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, seriously considering suicide, and attempting suicide are all up from a decade ago. You might be wondering whether these trends are a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, 2019 data show that teen mental health was already declining before the pandemic. The pandemic just exacerbated existing mental health challenges among teens.
There is some good news about our young people’s health. CDC data indicate that several areas of adolescent health are improving. The proportion of youth who are bullied at school is declining. Compared to a decade ago, young people are less likely to be sexually active and are less likely to report having four or more lifetime sexual partners. Rates of substance abuse among teens are also declining, including use of certain illicit drugs, misuse of prescription drugs, current marijuana use, and current alcohol use.
As someone who works with young people and cares about their well-being, I am concerned about their worsening mental health. Unaddressed mental health challenges undermine young people’s ability to show up and learn in school. In addition, poor mental health impacts their relationships and physical health.
Young people face numerous obstacles to mental health: limited access to quality and affordable healthcare, the challenges associated with coming of age while immersed in social media, and the high cost of higher education. More abstract threats loom, including climate change, political extremism, and war with Russia or China.
Access to mental health services can improve the lives of teens, but those most in need often fall through the cracks. We must do better.
Roscoe Scarborough, Ph.D. is interim chair of the Department of Social Sciences and associate professor of sociology at College of Coastal Georgia. He is an associate scholar at the Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies. He can be reached by email at rscarborough@ccga.edu.
Reg Murphy Center