Teen Girls Experiencing ‘Alarming’ Levels Of Sadness: CDC Report

Stat: Survey: Nearly 3 In 5 Teen Girls Felt 'Persistently Sad Or Hopeless' In 2021
Teen girls reported record levels of violence, sadness, and thoughts of suicide in 2021, experiencing distress at twice the rate of teen boys, according to new federal data released Monday. The nearly 3 in 5 teen girls who felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 was a 60% increase compared to a decade earlier. (Joseph, 2/13)

The New York Times: Record Levels Of Sadness In Teen Girls, CDC Reports
The researchers also analyzed the data by race and ethnicity, finding that Black and Hispanic students were more likely to report skipping school because of concerns about violence. White students, however, were more likely to report experiencing sexual violence. The increase in sadness and hopelessness was reported across all racial groups over the last decade. Though Black students were less likely to report these negative feelings than other groups, they were more likely to report suicide attempts than white, Asian or Hispanic adolescents. (Ghorayshi and Rabin, 2/13)

NPR: Teen Girls And LGBTQ+ Youth Plagued By Violence And Trauma, Survey Says
The report also found that 52% of teens identifying as LGBTQ+ experienced poor mental health in the past year, with 1 in 5 saying they had attempted suicide during that period of time. Among racial and ethnic groups Native American teens were the most likely to have attempted suicide in the year before, followed by Black youth, at 14%. (Chatterjee, 2/13)

The Washington Post: Teen Girls ‘Engulfed’ In Violence And Trauma, CDC Finds 
Almost 15 percent of teen girls said they were forced to have sex, an increase of 27 percent over two years and the first increase since the CDC began tracking it. “If you think about every 10 teen girls that you know, at least one and possibly more has been raped, and that is the highest level we’ve ever seen,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health who said the rise of sexual violence almost certainly contributed to the glaring spike of depressive symptoms. “We are really alarmed,” she said. (St. George, 2/13)

AP: Pandemic Youth Mental Health Toll Unprecedented, Data Show 
In 30 years of collecting similar data, “we’ve never seen this kind of devastating, consistent findings,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of CDC’s adolescent and school health division. “There’s no question young people are telling us they are in crisis. The data really call on us to act.” (Tanner, 2/13)

In related news about teen mental health —

The New York Times: How Teens Recovered From The ‘TikTok Tics’ 
Aidan’s tics erupted one day after school in early 2021, about a month after the long pandemic lockdown had ended. The 16-year-old convulsed while walking into the house, head snapping and arms swinging, sometimes letting out high-pitched whistles and whoops. Aidan’s parents looked up from the living room couch with alarm. They had been worried about the teenager’s ratcheting anxiety — related to Covid, gender dysphoria, college applications, even hanging out with friends. But they were not prepared for this dramatic display. (Ghorayshi, 2/13)

Also —

The Washington Post: Now For Sale: Data On Your Mental Health
One company advertised the names and home addresses of people with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress or bipolar disorder. Another sold a database featuring thousands of aggregated mental health records, starting at $275 per 1,000 “ailment contacts.” For years, data brokers have operated in a controversial corner of the internet economy, collecting and reselling Americans’ personal information for government or commercial use, such as targeted ads. But the pandemic-era rise of telehealth and therapy apps has fueled an even more contentious product line: Americans’ mental health data. (Harwell, 2/13)