Suicide rates increasing among U.S. teens, study indicates
Reuters (6/18, Carroll) reports that since 2007, “suicide rates have been climbing among U.S. teens, with an especially pronounced increase in boys recently,” researchers concluded after examining data from “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Underlying Cause of Death database.” The study’s lead author “hopes the study will alert parents and other relatives to the increasing suicide rates so they will notice changes in teens and young adults that might suggest a risk for suicide.” The findings were published June 18 in a research letter in JAMA.
According to CNN (6/18, Howard), “overall in 2017, there were 6,241 suicides among young people aged 15 to 24, of whom 5,016 were young men and 1,225 were young women, the researchers found.” The study, however, “had some limitations, including that the causes of death in the data were based on death certificates, which can be subject to error, or it could suggest that the observed increase in suicide deaths may reflect more accurate reporting in certificates.” In addition, investigators “did not examine factors behind the increase in suicide rates.”
