More than a third of high school students said they experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, according to a new government survey, with adolescent girls and gay and lesbian youth seeing the highest rates of poor emotional well-being.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that 44% of students in the previous year reported being so persistently depressed that they were unable to engage in regular activities. The agency conducted its survey of high school students from January 2021 to June 2021 and concluded that the stresses of living through a public health emergency exacerbated an existing mental health crisis among youth.
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“These data echo a cry for help,” said CDC Acting Principal Deputy Director Debra Houry. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created traumatic stressors that have the potential to further erode students’ mental wellbeing. Our research shows that surrounding youth with the proper support can reverse these trends and help our youth now and in the future.”
The survey also reported that nearly 20% of adolescents considered suicide, while 9% attempted it.
The CDC researchers also found that more than half of high school students, about 55%, said they experienced emotional abuse by a parent or other adult at home, and 11% experienced physical abuse by a parent or other adult. The CDC’s annual youth behavior survey does not typically ask about instances of abuse and therefore cannot compare 2021 rates with previous years. But Dr. Kathleen Ethier, the director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, told reporters that schools should use these findings as an impetus for improving emotional health resources for students.
“There is no way to know specifically whether our findings reflect something new due to the pandemic,” Ethier said. “I think what it does point out, however, is what we have to do now in order to support the youth who have experienced abuse in their home. So we know that we can really support schools in addressing those issues … and looking out for potential youth who are experiencing abuse in the home to direct them towards services that they need.”
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The report did not say explicitly that the closure of schools and shift to online-only learning early in the pandemic spurred such high rates of emotional unwellness. Still, a growing body of research shows that virtual learning has caused students to feel distanced from social aspects of their lives, as well as hampered in their ability to learn and retain information.
Pediatric psychologists have warned that the stress, uncertainty, and depression experienced by young people during the last two years of COVID-19 and the related shutdowns and disruptions will outlast the pandemic. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association together declared that the nationwide decline in youth mental health has become a national emergency.
