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A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics looked at the association of youth suicides and county-level mental health professional shortage areas in the United States. “We found that two-thirds of U.S. counties have significant shortages of mental health professionals,” study author Jennifer A. Hoffman told us. “Youth who live in counties with shortages of mental health professionals are more likely to die by suicide.” [More]

“Our study was about adolescent health in the context of parental incarceration and foster care,” study author, Luke Muentner told us. “Really, we were hoping to get a deeper understanding of how exposure to both the criminal legal and the child welfare system differentially impacts youth mental health compared to peers who were exposed to only one system as well as those who were never systems-impacted.” [More]

Two in three parents report that their children feel self-conscious about their appearance. A national poll found that one in five parents report their teens avoid some activities due to their insecurities and one in three parents report their kids have been treated unkindly due to their appearance. [More]

A new study published in Current Psychiatry Reports looked at substance use among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The study investigates the question of whether or not substance use has increased or decreased in the youth population during the pandemic,” study author Hannah M. Layman told us. “There are many reasons why both are possible (for example: increasing due to coping strategies or decreasing due to increased time with family). Our study aimed to analyze existing literature to best answer this question. I personally was unsure of what we might find.” [More]

A new study published in Science Direct looked at bereavement and mental health and the generational consequences of a grandparent's death. “We were interested in examining whether adolescents who experience the death of a grandparent between the ages of nine and 15 showed evidence of lasting mental health challenges that might predict subsequent difficulties in schooling,” study author Dr. Ashton M Verdery told us. [More]

Fewer high school students attempt suicide in states that have enacted hate crime laws that protect LGBT+ people. Researchers from the University of Indianapolis and The Ohio State University found that the reduction in suicide rates didn’t only occur among sexual and gender minority students, but also among heterosexual students. [More]

A new two-year longitudinal study published in the BMJ looked at lifestyle risk behaviors among adolescents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our study focused on the ‘Big 6’ health behaviors among adolescents, being physical activity, diet, sleep, recreational screen time, alcohol use and smoking, given these are key predictors of both short- and long-term health and wellbeing,” lead author Dr. Lauren Gardner from the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre told us. [More]

Carter Weinstein is a freshman at Georgetown University and the author of Conquering Fear: One Teen's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety. Weinstein believes so many teens have anxiety currently because of increasing stress due to the pandemic. “Teens today have an unprecedented amount of stress due to an immense amount of schoolwork, social pressure, and academic competition and college preparation,” Weinstein told us. "Teens are prone to have anxiety already, thus the pandemic (restricting them from seeing their friends, secluding them behind a screen, etc.) has only made matters worse.” [More]

A new, first-of-its-kind survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) investigated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on 2SLGBTQ+ youth and young adults at risk of, and experiencing, homelessness in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and surrounding areas. “I approached this study with the understanding that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness have been found to experience higher rates of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and suicidality, often resulting from identity-based discrimination, violence, and a lack of support,” study author Dr. Alex Abramovich told us. “I wanted to address these gaps and identify appropriate measures to support 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness and promote mental health during future waves of COVID-19 or future pandemics." [More]

There’s a new animated series (My Life is Worth Living) that hopes to prevent suicide through its story telling. They want to show how important human connection is for prevention. But can such a serious subject be addressed through a cartoon? [More]