---
title: Suicidal Thoughts, Behaviors Rise in Adolescents; Black Girls Have Highest Risk
description: Suicidal thoughts and attempts steadily rose among high school students between 2007 and 2021.
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/teens_youth_iStock-96961184.jpg
---

 5/28/25 2:45 AM

# Suicidal Thoughts, Behaviors Rise in Adolescents; Black Girls Have Highest Risk

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Suicidal thoughts and attempts steadily rose among high school students between 2007 and 2021, with similar trends seen in students at low and high risk of suicide, according to [a study](https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8882573944990982981/6351024933239290176#) published today in the *American Journal of Psychiatry* (AJP). A [second *AJP* study](https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8882573944990982981/6351024933239290176#) published today revealed that adolescent Black females have significantly higher risks of suicidal ideation compared with their White and/or male peers.

In the first study, Tanner J. Bommersbach, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Wisconsin, and colleagues analyzed data from 119,654 high school students who completed the biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) sometime between 2007 and 2021. The researchers analyzed responses to questions about suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts as well as questions about 24 risk factors for suicidality, such as substance use, violence, bullying, low sleep, and high body mass index.

Overall, the percentage of students reporting past-year suicidal ideation rose from 14.4% to 22.1% between 2007 and 2021, while those reporting suicidal plans rose from 11.2% to 17.6% and those reporting suicide attempts rose from 6.9% to 10.1%.

Suicidal thoughts (ideation or planning) and attempts were most common among students with the highest frequency of risk factors. However, percentagewise, the upward trends in suicidal thoughts and attempts did not differ between high-risk students and those with few or no risk behaviors.

“[Our] findings highlight a critical need to more effectively identify individuals in school and health care settings who could escape detection with targeted strategies based on behavioral risks,” Bommersbach and colleagues wrote.

In the second study, Ashley M. Cooper, M.S., M.Phil., of Penn Medicine, and colleagues used data from three studies—the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the 2021 YRBS, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Emergency Department cohort—to compare suicidal ideation and attempts among 38,380 non-Hispanic Black youths and non-Hispanic White youths.

Overall, girls had had 1.75 times the odds of past-year suicide ideation compared with boys and 1.81 times the odds of a past-year suicide attempt. Black youth of any sex had 1.57 times the odds of a past-year suicide attempt compared with White youth, but there were no racial disparities in suicidal ideation. In examining race and sex interactions, the researchers found that Black girls had 1.26 times the odds of suicidal ideation compared with all their peers; there were no significant race and sex disparities for suicide attempts.

The researchers noted several possible causes for the higher risk of suicidal ideation among Black girls, including intimate partner violence, racial discrimination, cyberbullying, and underdiagnosis of depression. “Thus, we urge the clinical and research community alike to increase the number of suicide prevention efforts created for, and disseminated to, Black girls in particular,” they wrote.

For related information, see the *Focus* article “[Youth Suicide](https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8882573944990982981/6351024933239290176#).”

(Image: Getty Images/iStock/monkeybusinessimages)

 

---

 

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[adolescents](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/adolescents), [teens](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/teens), [suicide attempt](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide-attempt), [suicidal thoughts](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicidal-thoughts), [high school](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/high-school), [youth suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/youth-suicide)

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