host: Teenage girls in the U.S.
Are experiencing record high
levels of violence and oddness
according to a recent CDC
report.
Stephanie sy dives into the
numbers, the spoke -- the scope
and significance of the problem.
Reporter: The CDC has conducted
the survey every couple years
for decades and this new report
is our first to measure the
well-being of the nation's youth
since the pandemic started.
In 2021 the CDC saw an increase
and mental health challenges
across the board.
The girls are engulfed in a
growing wave of sadness,
violence and trauma.
Nearly three and five girls
reported feeling persistent
sadness and hopelessness.
25% of girls reported
[indiscernible]
14% reported having been forced
to have sex, a four percent rise
since the last survey.
22% of teenagers that identify
as lesbian, gay, bisexual or
questioning have attempted
suicide in the last year.
For a look at how we got here
and what can be done I am joined
by the codirector of the
national center for school
mental health and professor of
psychology at the university of
Maryland's school of medicine,
Sharon Hoover.
Thank you for joining us.
I want to jump right in.
The decline of youth mental
health goes back at least a
decade but the number of girls
reporting how much they are
suffering really stands out in
this report.
Why do things seem to be getting
worse for teen girls?
>> We are not surprised to see
increases in mental health
challenges.
We have seen the trends
happening for the last several
years.
It was quite surprising in some
respects to see the stark gender
difference.
This is a first national look we
have had since the pandemic.
It gives us an insight into how
boys and girls and different
folks that experienced the
pandemic differently.
Host: Why are we looking at this
gender gap?
>> There is a lot of speculation
now that we have seen this stark
difference between girls and
boys.
One of the hypotheses is that
girls were more socially
isolated and they rely more on
their peers for his
self-confidence and self-esteem
or their general well-being.
They also are more likely to
spend time on social media and
not just been time on it but
excessive time.
Host: The CDC says schools are
on the front line of this crisis
and that is your area of
expertise.
Why does the school --what is
the role of schools?
>> I was pleased to see the CDC
come out and say that schools
need to be a critical part of
how we address this.
Many of us have said we cannot
treat our way out of this youth
mental health crisis.
There are not enough providers
and it is not the right
approach.
I often talk about if we saw 60%
of our young people being
injured in car accidents, the
solution would not be to hire
more physicians in the emergency
department.
We would take a public health
approach and look at how we
could better a car is, how could
we look at the driving age.
Similarly we need to take a
mental health approach to help
our young people and schools are
one place we can do that.
The CDC says we need to promote
school connectedness.
When we make a concerted effort
and investment in those positive
approaches, we see improvements
in school connectedness and
impact on youth mental health.
I think it is the right way to
go in terms of affects or one
part of the resolution.
Host: I want to come back to
what was most starling to me.
14% of teenage girls report
being forced to have sex, that
they are experiencing rape and
violence at higher rates.
Those things would impact mental
health.
Shouldn't the headline be, girls
are being targeted and raped at
alarming rates.
What is being done about the
perpetrators of these crimes?
It was odd to me to see that
grouped in with mental health
challenges.
>> We know they are related.
If you are experiencing sexual
assault you are at a greater
risk for mental health
challenges.
There does need to be a headline
calling out what is happening to
our young girls.
We have seen a dramatic increase
in their self reporting of
sexual assaults.
The numbers are concerning.
There are measures that can be
put in place.
Many of those at the school
level.
To help our young people
navigate relationships and to
really prevent some of the
sexual assault we are seeing.
Host: The CDC report enforces
previous research that has shown
how lesbian, gay and questioning
youth are reporting
substantially worse well-being
including also being more likely
to experience violence.
Given how there are school
boards literally fighting over
gender identity curriculum, are
they less likely to get their
mental health needs met today?
>> It is one of our greatest
worries that some of the
controversy and legislation and
discussion at the school board
level about making our
environments less inclusive for
lgbtq plus youth could
negatively impact this group of
students who are already
vulnerable.
We know lgbtq youth are more at
risk of suicide and depression
and anxiety and we also know
there are solutions that can be
put in place to help them not
only with getting mental health
supports but also at a more
public level to make schools
more inclusive and an accepting
place where they feel they can
belong.
We are very concerned about some
of the legislation we are seeing
and some of the action --
actions from school boards to
make schools less accepting.
Host: Sharon Hoover with the
national center for school
mental health, thank you so
much.