By Rylee Wilson
Exercise, sleep and support from adults are associated with lower likelihood of poor mental health and suicide risk among high school students, the CDC found.
The agency published its study Oct. 8 based on results from the 2023 youth risk behavior survey. The survey includes more than 20,000 students in grades 9-12 from all 50 states.
In 2023, around 40% of students reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, 29% experienced poor mental health, 20% seriously considered attempting suicide and 10% reported attempting suicide.
CDC researchers identified five protective factors associated with lower risk of poor mental health or suicide risk:
- Students that were physically active for one hour for five or more days a week had a lower prevalence of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
- Getting eight or more hours a sleep a night was associated with a lower prevalence of all mental health and suicide risk indicators.
- Students that reported high parental monitoring had a lower prevalence of most mental health and suicide risk indicators, except for poor mental health.
- Students that reported high levels of connectedness at school had a lower incidence of all risk factors.
- Playing on at least one sports team was associated with a lower risk of most risk indicators, except for attempted suicide.
Read the full report here.