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Suicidal Behavior Increasing in US Youth, Meta-Analysis Finds
Despite efforts to reduce suicide risk in young adults in the United States, rates of suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA) in people under the age of 22 are increasing, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
“This is the most comprehensive meta-analysis of [suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB)] in youth, providing valuable data about how risk factors most commonly associated with suicide vary internationally and over time,” lead author Anna Van Meter, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, and co-authors noted. “International rates of STB among youth are not improving and may be getting worse in the United States, despite efforts to reduce suicide risk.”
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Researchers conducted a review of studies on PubMed and PsycINFO focusing on the prevalence of SI or SA in community youth under the age of 22. Study data ranged from 1981 to 2021 and included participants between 6 and 21 years old.
Study authors used 369 articles to create 376 effect sizes for SI, 96 for SI with a plan, and 321 for SA in 149 countries and territories. SI prevalence ranged from 14.3% to 22.6%, SA prevalence ranged from 4.6% to 16.9%. Rates were found to be lower among younger children and girls and higher among older children and boys. SI rates were highest among Asian youth and lowest among Black youth, while SA were highest among Indigenous youth and lowest among white youth.
Studies from 2007 onward also showed increasing rates of SI and SA only in the United States. SI rose from 9.8% to 18% between 2007 and 2012, and SA increased from 5% in 2007 to 9% in 2012. The most recent study revealed an SI rate of 19.9% and SA rate of 9% in 2021.
“Most studies did not report rates of SI or SA separately for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and others) youth and youth of color,” researchers concluded. “A better understanding of proximal risk at the individual level will be important to informing future prevention efforts, especially for high-risk groups.”
