A CDC survey of youth mental health reveals little improvement
Young people are doing better in their mental health over the past few years after a period of increased sadness and hopelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.
Data released last week showed a 2% decrease from 2021 to 2023 in high school students reporting feeling sad or hopeless. The percentage dropped from 42% to 40% of students who reported having this opinion, the first time the annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey has not reported an increase in more than a decade.
But mental health and behavioral health experts aren’t celebrating victory just yet. This is because the reported rates of children feeling sad or hopeless remain high, especially among teenage girls who showed a decrease, from 57% to 53% of cases, in those years two.
Kathleen Ethier, director of CDC’s youth and school health department, said: “We have made progress in solving these problems in recent years, which shows that they cannot be defeated. However, there is still a lot of work ahead.
Which is getting better
The new report also found small but meaningful improvements among students from disadvantaged groups.
About four percent of Hispanic youth in those two years experienced chronic sadness or hopelessness, poor mental health and serious thoughts about trying to kill themselves,” and less than 3% made a suicide plan.
Black youth also saw a 4% decrease in students who reported having attempted suicide and a 2% decrease in people injured in a suicide attempt.
Ariana Hoet, a child psychologist and clinical executive director of The Kids Mental Health Foundation, said increased awareness, government funding and school programs may partially explain why health The mental health of young people has improved over the past few years.
“This epidemic opened our eyes (to see that) children’s mental health is a concern,” he said. “People are looking for resources and getting resources more often.”
There was also a concerted effort to highlight the causes of hopelessness among young adults.
Last year, United States Surgeon Dr. Vivek Murthy gave a health tip that highlighted the impact of social media on the mental health of young people. The White House has also committed hundreds of millions of dollars to mental health and behavioral health programs in schools and at-risk communities.
Dr. Elizabeth Ortiz-Schwartz, a child psychiatrist at Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut, says that returning to classroom learning and other activities may also help improve students’ mental health.
He said: “There are many opportunities to connect (and) enjoy the company of peers. “The familiarity of activities can be very beneficial.”
Which is getting worse
Returning to the classroom also meant returning to stressors such as academic pressure, bullying and school violence, Ortiz-Schwartz said.
The CDC report found an increase in students being threatened or harmed with a weapon at school, being bullied at school or missing school due to safety concerns at school or on the way to school.
The percentage of female students who missed school increased from 10% to 16% in those two years, and nearly 20% of women were sexually assaulted by 2023, in follow the research. About 30% of LGBTQ+ students said they had been bullied and 20% missed school because of safety concerns.
The increase in violence may be a natural consequence of the return to one-on-one classrooms where there are more opportunities for physical contact, experts said. But they say there may be something at play.
Ortiz-Schwartz noticed that some of her patients after being isolated seemed distraught, exhibiting the emotional behavior she often sees in young children.
The increase in violence and bullying in the media may also be a product of social media changing violent language and behavior, leading to less isolation and bullying when children are together in person. .
Another aspect that adults should pay attention to, said Hoet, of The Kids Mental Health Foundation, is how the behavior manifests itself so that they can teach young people how to deal effectively with the situation.
“Children often show depression by being irritable,” Hoet said. “We have to teach emotional control… it’s okay to get angry, it’s normal to get angry but we have to find a way to deal with that anger.”
Parents who protect mental health
Not all students were severely affected by COVID-19.
A report published by the Springtide Research Institute in July found that 13-year-olds had better outcomes during the pandemic. Of the 1,000 children surveyed, nearly 50% said the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive effect on their family relationships.
Although the results seem promising, the researchers noted that the survey responses differed greatly depending on the youth’s family income. Among children with household income, 64% said that the epidemic had a positive effect on family relationships. However, only 34% of children with low family income had a positive impact on their family relationships.
“It’s possible that some kids liked (staying at home) and were very successful, and some kids didn’t, and that’s because each environment is different,” Hoet said.
The report emphasizes that students have special needs, said Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, chief medical officer at The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on emotional health and suicide prevention for teens and young adults.
He said: “We really need to pay attention to the reasons why young people are in that situation (and) the reasons why young people have difficulty seeking help when they need it.
Educators should continue to improve the programs and curriculum at school, however, the best defender of mental health is the relationship between children and adults and it starts at home with parents and guardians, Hoet said.
The CDC also says that increasing health education, connecting youth to health services and making school environments safer and more supportive are key to improving mental health.
“This work is far from complete,” said Dr. Debra Houry, CDC’s chief medical officer and deputy program and science director “Every child needs to feel safe and supported, and CDC will continue its work to transform data this process until we reach that goal.”
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.
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