With families around the country preparing to go back to school, there is promising news about teen mental health: Girls seem to be feeling a little better. The percentage of teen girls who expressed persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness has declined since 2021, from 57% to 53%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey . They’re also less likely to attempt suicide.
In 2023, 27% of surveyed girls had seriously considered ending her life, compared to 30% in 2021. “These data show that we’ve made some progress in tackling these issues in recent years, which proves that they are not insurmountable,” Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health, said in a news release about the survey. Just a year ago, the CDC reported that teen girls were suffering through an unprecedented wave of sadness and trauma, with many reporting they were unable to do regular activities such as schoolwork or sports.
The new findings, which include feedback from more than 20,000 students nationwide, offer a glimmer of hope following years of worsening mental health among young girls — especially since the pandemic . "It’s always encouraging when fewer kids report experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness," said Dr. Ellen Rome, head of adolescent medicine at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital.
"But the numbers are still overwhelmingly high and should provoke thought and conc.