By Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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TUESDAY, Aug. 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) — There’s a hint of good news for parents concerned about teen mental health: After 57% of U.S. teen girls surveyed in 2021 said they felt “persistent sadness,” that number declined somewhat by 2023, to 53%, new government data show.<\/p>\n
In the latest biennial poll of over 20,000 high school students nationwide, called the Youth Risk Behavior Survey<\/a>, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that pandemic-era rates of despair may be ebbing, although they remain high.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u0080\u009cOne of our main priorities at CDC is improving Americans\u00e2\u0080\u0099 mental health,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Dr. Debra Houry<\/a>, the CDC’s chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science, said in an agency news release. \u00e2\u0080\u009cThe data released today show improvements to a number of metrics that measure young people’s mental well-being — progress we can build on. However, this work is far from complete.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/p>\n In general, girls tend to feel persistent sadness<\/a> more than boys: About 28% of boys surveyed in both the 2021 and 2023 surveys said they felt that way.<\/p>\n In other survey findings, suicide risk among girls did not change between the two surveys. However, a rise in suicide attempts among Black students that appeared in 2021 has now declined significantly.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u0080\u009cThese data show that we’ve made some progress in tackling these issues in recent years, which proves that they are not insurmountable. However, there’s still much work ahead,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Kathleen Ethier<\/a>, head of the CDC\u00e2\u0080\u0099s adolescent and school health program, said in an agency news release. \u00e2\u0080\u009cBut we\u00e2\u0080\u0099re also seeing some really important glimmers of hope.”<\/p>\n Still, rates of persistent sadness among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender high school students remained troublingly high: About 65% said they felt this way in the 2023 survey, compared to 31% among their cisgender and heterosexual students.<\/p>\n The decline in some markers of mental health woes among teens might be attributed to an increased focus in recent years on timely diagnosis and treatment, said Corinne Catarozoli<\/a>, a clinical psychologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. She said that, increasingly, pediatricians are initiating and providing such care when teens come in for a checkup.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Times<\/em>, Catarozoli said she’s seen pediatric emergency visits at Weill Cornell for psychiatry care start to level off over this year.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u0080\u009cThis [CDC] data we\u00e2\u0080\u0099re seeing today is promising and shows that we\u00e2\u0080\u0099re on the right track,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Catarozoli said. But, \u00e2\u0080\u009cthere is still a long way to go in terms of access and in terms of insurance coverage.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/p>\n In other data on the current stressors hitting U.S. teens, the 2023 survey found that nearly 2 in 10 female students said they’d experienced sexual violence, while more than 1 in 10 reported being forced to have sex.<\/p>\n Violence affected LGBTQ teens as well, with nearly 1 in 5 saying they’d skipped school over the past 30 days out of fears of violence. More than 1 in 5 LGBTQ teens also said they’d been bullied over the past year, according to the report.<\/p>\n But certain risks are ebbing. Risky sexual behavior among teens is down, with just 6% of teenagers saying they have had four or more lifetime sexual partners, compared with 15% in 2013, the survey found.<\/p>\n Drinking rates have also fallen, from 35% of teens saying they drink in 2013 to just 22% a decade later. And while 23% of teens said they used marijuana in 2013, that number had fallen to 17% by 2023.<\/p>\n Social media use is rampant among youth, especially girls: By 2023, 82 percent of girls reported frequent social media use compared with 73 percent of boys.<\/p>\n Racism is still an issue, too: In 2023, exposure to racism at school was reported by more than a third of teens, with Asian students reporting the highest rate, at 57%, and 46% of Black students saying they faced racism at school.<\/p>\n If you or someone you know is in mental health crisis, free, anonymous help is available 24\/7 at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline<\/a>.<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n Learn the warning signs of depression in teens at the Mayo Clinic<\/a>.<\/p>\n SOURCES: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survey<\/a>, Aug. 6, 2024; New York Times<\/em><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n