Teen Girls Report Record Levels of Sadness, C.D.C. Finds
nytimes.comNearly three in five teenage girls felt persistent sadness in 2021, double the rate of boys, and one in three girls seriously considered attempting suicide, according to data released on Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The findings, based on surveys given to teenagers across the country, also showed high levels of violence, depression and suicidal thoughts among lesbian, gay and bisexual youth.
More than one in five of these students reported attempting suicide in the year before the survey, the agency found. The rates of sadness are the highest reported in a decade, reflecting a long-brewing national tragedy only made worse by the isolation and stress of the pandemic. “I think there’s really no question what this data is telling us,” said Dr.
Kathleen Ethier, head of the C.D.C.’s Adolescent and School Health Program. “Young people are telling us that they are in crisis.” The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was given to 17,000 adolescents at high schools across the United States in the fall of 2021.
