CNN (4/25, Rogers) reports, “The number of suicides among adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 increased in five states during the pandemic, according to research looking at 14 states.” In addition, “data from Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Virginia and California…showed an increase in the proportion of adolescent deaths by suicide relative to suicides by people of all ages.”

MedPage Today (4/25, Walker) reports, “Adolescent suicides made up a larger share of suicides at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to prepandemic years, according to data from 14 states,” data which “comprised 32% of all U.S. residents and about a third of all adolescents.” The study revealed that “in 2020, individuals ages 10-19 comprised a significantly higher proportion of total suicides versus the prepandemic period of 2015-2019 (6.5% vs 5.9%, respectively), a relative 10% increase,” but even though “there was also an increase in the absolute number of adolescent suicides in 2020, at 903 versus 835.6 on average in the prepandemic years, it was not statistically significant, the authors stated.” The findings were published online in an April 25 research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Adolescent suicides increased in 5 US states during the pandemic. Why parents should be concerned “Kristen Rogers, CNN, April 25, 2022

The Washington Post (4/24, Searing) reports, “Already known to help ease depression, regular exercise may also help prevent it, with people who exercised just half the recommended weekly amount lowering their risk for depression by 18 percent,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from 15 studies, involving 191,130 adults who were tracked for at least three years.” Researchers also found that people “who were more active, meeting at least the minimum recommended physical activity level, reduced their risk for depression by 25 percent, compared with inactive people.” The findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis were published online April 13 in JAMA Psychiatry.

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

In a front-page feature story, the New York Times (4/24, A1, Richtel, Flanagan) reports that American adolescents are facing a new public health threat, that is, “soaring rates of mental health disorders.” For example, in 2019, 13 percent of adolescent Americans “reported having a major depressive episode, a 60 percent increase from 2007.” Additionally, “emergency room visits by children and adolescents in that period also rose sharply for anxiety, mood disorders and self-harm.” Further, suicide rates for people ages 10 to 24, “stable from 2000 to 2007, leaped nearly 60 percent by 2018,” according to the CDC.

NPR (4/24, Rascoe, Narro) interviews Kathleen Ethier, PhD, who “leads the Division of Adolescent and School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which this month published a survey” indicating “the extent to which the pandemic has been incredibly disruptive for young people and their families.”

Related Links:

— “‘It’s Life or Death’: The Mental Health Crisis Among U.S. Teens ” Matt Richtel, The New York Times, April 24, 2022

A Washington Post (4/21, Bump) analysis says research “from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) quantifies the effects of [COVID-19] vaccination.” The Post adds, “Since June 2021, the point at which every American adult had access to coronavirus vaccines, they estimate that just over 234,000 unvaccinated Americans died who could have lived had they been immunized against the virus,” which is “nearly a quarter of the total death toll from the pandemic.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (4/21, Downey) reports, “The COVID-19 pandemic, in combination with systemic racism in the U.S., is associated with elevated levels of postpartum anxiety and depression among Black mothers,” investigators concluded in a study that “followed up with a total of 151 Black participants after their pregnancies between April 17, 2020, and July 8, 2020.” The findings were published online April 13 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Pandemic, racism linked to postpartum anxiety, depression in Black mothers “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, April 21, 2022