Suicide rates in preteens have continued to climb across 15 years, study finds

The suicide rate for U.S. children 8 to 12 years old has steadily climbed in the past decade and a half, with a disproportionate rise among girls, data released Tuesday by the National Institute of Mental Health shows.

The findings, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, highlight pervasive issues regarding mental health that affect U.S. children daily, the study authors said.

The authors of the study blame no single reason for the increase, but experts not involved in the study say the problem is multifaceted, citing technology, social media and guns as the main culprits.

Between 2001 and 2022, 2,241 children ages 8 to 12 — known as preteens — died by suicide. While suicide rates were decreasing until 2007, they increased by about 8% each year from 2008 to 2022.

From 2001 through 2007, 482 children ages 8 to 12 died by suicide at a rate of 3.34 per 1 million preteens. From 2008 to 2022, the number of suicides in that age group rose to 1,759, with a rate of 5.71 per 1 million.

Boys continue to have a higher suicide rate than girls, but suicide among 8- to 12-year-old girls has disproportionally increased in the past 15 years. Suicide ranked as the 11th-leading cause of death among preteen girls from 2001 to 2007. Between 2008 and 2022, it emerged as the fifth-leading cause of death. From 2001 through 2007, the rate of suicide for preteen girls was 1.25 per 1 million and rose to 4.15 per 1 million between 2008 and 2022.

While Black preteens had the highest rate of suicide for both time periods, all racial groups experienced increases, including American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Hispanic preteens.

Firearms figured more prominently in preteen suicides, with the number increasing from 90 between 2001 and 2007 to 440 between 2008 and 2022. Firearms were the second-leading cause of death, following deaths caused by hanging or suffocation.

Previous research focused on older teens, but data has expanded to include younger children and the incidence of suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior and suicides, according to Lisa M. Horowitz, co-author of the study and director of patient safety and quality for the National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program.

“To see the numbers rise for the younger kids (and) to see that life could get so bad for these young kids who have their whole life ahead of them and they’re thinking about wanting to die, wanting to end their life … that’s very striking to me,” Horowitz said.

The coronavirus pandemic worsened the country’s ongoing mental health crisis, leading to increases in anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, according to experts

[Parents think teens get the emotional support they need. Kids disagree.]

“This has been going on for a while, and we really saw things pick up when COVID started (and) really seeing kids come in being miserable,” said Maria H. Rahmandar, a pediatrician and co-author of the American Academy of Pediatrics clinical report on suicide and suicide risk in adolescents.

“All of the pediatric providers I know were all hopeful that once kids were able to get back to school and their friends and a semblance of a normal life that mental health would improve, and we just haven’t seen that,” said Rahmandar, an associate professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death of young people ages 10 to 24. In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association collectively declared a national emergency regarding children’s mental health, calling for more funding and more robust prevention programs combating challenges in mental health that were exacerbated by the pandemic.

In 2022, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged health-care providers to screen all teenagers for suicide risk, despite national recommendations saying more research is needed to assess the benefits and harms of such screenings.

Some experts maintain that broadening the screening guidelines could identity higher-risk patients at an earlier age.

Horowitz said the study released Tuesday highlights the importance of starting screenings earlier.

“We have to dispel that myth that talking about suicide puts the idea into someone’s head,” Horowitz said. “There are at least four studies now showing that it’s actually the opposite, that it’s not dangerous to ask kids about suicide risk. It actually could save their lives.”

Researchers emphasize the need for more public health interventions, but some experts argue that technology companies should be held accountable for protecting the safety of their youngest users.

Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy called on Congress in June to implement tobacco-style warning labels for social media that would caution users about the potential negative impact these platforms can have on children’s mental health.

Jean Marie Twenge, a researcher whose work has focused on generational differences and trends in mental health, said 2012 marked the year when she saw a change in social interactions among teenagers, a factor she believes helped fuel the rise in suicides among preteens.

“What changed steadily over that time, particularly in this age group, was access to smartphones and the popularity of social media,” said Twenge, author of the book “Generations,” an analysis using national data to assess how generations vary on topics such as mental health, political beliefs and gender identity.

Social media, Twenge said, “was the catalyst for all of these changes (because) it’s very tempting for teens and preteens to stay up late using social media (as) the norm for interaction has shifted to be online rather than in person.”

Some experts say the internet can be a place where children find community, but with the internet’s rapid evolution, legislation aimed at protecting young people often lags behind.

The most up-to-date piece of legislation regarding youth and the internet is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal law that regulates the online collection of personal information from children younger than 13. It requires children to be at least 13 to open a social media account, but Twenge said enforcing these rules proves challenging because nearly 95% of teens have access to smartphones, which make social media available without requiring parental permission to open an account.

“The amount of effort required to make sure that your child never opens a social media account is out of the reach of 99.8% of parents,” Twenge said. “It’s virtually impossible.”

Some states have moved to shield children from social media. Lawmakers in Arkansas, Florida and Utah have attempted to pass legislation banning children from online platforms, but most attempts have been stymied.

On Tuesday, the Senate passed two bills, the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, that would expand online privacy safety protections to include kids and teens 16 and younger. The last time Congress passed a law protecting children from the internet was in 1998.

“I like telling parents to talk to kids about smoking and safe sex and drug use, but we also have to include mental health issues,” Horowitz said.

- - -

If you or someone you know needs help, visit 988lifeline.org or call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.