Adolescent Mental Health Facts

Flourishing,¹ ages 12-17, 2018-2019^MH1

Percent of adolescents ages 12-17 who:		United States
Always or usually show interest and curiosity in learning new things (according to parent/guardian)		87%
Always or usually stay calm and in control when faced with a challenge (according to parent/guardian)		80%
Always or usually work to finish tasks he or she starts (according to parent/guardian)		85%

Persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness among high school students (grades 9-12), 2019^MH2

Percent of high school students who report they:		United States
Felt sad or hopeless almost every day for 2 or more weeks in a row so that they stopped doing some usual activities (during the 12 months before the survey)
Total		37%
Male		27%
Female		47%

Major depressive episode,² ages 12-17, 2018-2019^MH3

Percent of adolescents ages 12-17 who report they:		United States
Had at least one major depressive episode (during the 12 months before the survey)		15%

Suicidal thoughts, attempts, and related injuries among high school students (grades 9-12), 2019^MH2

Percent of high school students who report they:		United States
Seriously considered attempting suicide (during the 12 months before the survey)
Total		19%
Male		13%
Female		24%
Attempted suicide 1 or more times (during the 12 months before the survey)
Total		9%
Male		7%
Female		11%
Attempted suicide resulting in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse (during the 12 months before the survey)
Total		3%
Male		2%
Female		3%

Data notes

All percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

N/A: data are not available on this measure for this state.

¹ The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) asks the child’s parent, guardian, or other adult familiar with the child’s health three questions about children’s “flourishing,” intended to capture children’s and adolescents’ curiosity, resilience, and self-regulation: “How often does this child: (1) show interest and curiosity in learning new things, (2) work to finish tasks he or she starts, and (3) stay calm and in control when faced with a challenge.” Responses of “always” or “usually” meet each flourishing item’s criteria, which are also used to produce a global flourishing score based on how many of the three items the child meets (not presented here).

² The National Survey on Drug Use and Health uses the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition’s^MH4 (DSM-5) definition of a major depressive episode as having had five or more of nine symptoms nearly every day in the same 2-week period, where at least one of the symptoms is a depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities: (1) depressed mood most of the day; (2) markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all or almost all activities most of the day; (3) significant weight loss when not sick or dieting, or weight gain when not pregnant or growing, or decrease or increase in appetite; (4) insomnia or hypersomnia; (5) psychomotor agitation or retardation that is observable by others; (6) fatigue or loss of energy; (7) feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt; (8) diminished ability to think or concentrate or indecisiveness; and (9) recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation.

Data sources

^MH1Flourishing data are from: Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health. (n.d.). National Survey of Children’s Health, 2018-2019 [Data set]. Retrieved from https://www.childhealthdata.org/browse/survey

^MH2High school data are from: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). 1991-2019 high school Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance [Data set]. Retrieved from https://nccd.cdc.gov/Youthonline/App/Default.aspx

^MH3Depressive episode data are from: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2020). 2018-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Model-based prevalence estimates (50 states and the District of Columbia). Table 30. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect/nsduh-national-survey-drug-use-and-health

^MH4 American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th Ed.).