Study: Violent deaths jump among US teenagers

In 2021, suicide and homicide rates for children and young adults age 10 to 24 in the US were the highest in decades, government researchers said Thursday.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death for that age group, both causing about 11 deaths for every 100,000 people.

The homicide rate for the age group in 2021 was the highest since 1997, and the suicide rate was the highest on record, dating to 1968.

The suicide and homicide rates followed accidental deaths, which include motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings and overdoses, according to The Associated Press.

The CDC study examined homicide and suicide rates among 10-to-24-year-olds from 2001 to 2021 and found the suicide rate increased 62 percent from 2007 through 2021.

The homicide rate, while remaining relatively stable from 2001 to 2006, experienced a nearly 30 percent decline from 2006 to 2014, but had an increase of 60 percent in the past seven years, CDC data shows.

Factors contributing to the increases in homicide and suicide included higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services and the number of guns in US homes.

The increases are alarming and “reflect a mental health crisis among young people and a need for a number of policy changes”, Dr Steven Woolf, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher, told the AP. Woolf studies US death trends and wasn’t involved in the CDC report.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said the increase in American teenage suicide reflects a growing mental health crisis. “This crisis has deeper roots that extend beyond the effects of COVID-19 and the ongoing pursuit of racial justice, requiring immediate attention and intervention,’’ the academy said.

Suicide and homicide death rates were significantly higher for older teenagers and youth between 10-14 years old, the study found.

In 2021, the suicide rate for teenagers age 10 to 14 was approximately 2.9 deaths per 100,000, whereas the suicide rate for those age 20 to 24 was 19.4 per 100,000, a 63 percent increase over the past two decades.

The homicide rate for individuals age 10 to 14 was about 1.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, whereas older teenagers in their 20s had a rate of approximately 18 per 100,000.

Homicide deaths became more common than suicide deaths among 15-to-19-year-olds, while suicide was more common in the younger and older age groups, AP found.

Other CDC data released earlier this year also found a relatively higher suicide rate rose among people of color.

From 2018 to 2021, the suicide rate among black people increased by 19.2 percent, while Hispanic individuals had a 6.8 percent increase. White individuals showed an overall decline in rate compared with 2018, according to data released in February by the CDC.

Common factors contributing to the trends include limited access to mental health services and providers, as well as insurance plans with inadequate coverage for mental health.

Recent findings on the rising homicide rate also reveal an increase in gun-related injuries among individuals age 1 to 19. They surpassed vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among that age group in 2020, according to a recent paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which analyzed CDC data.

Between 2019 and 2021, the number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the US increased by 50 percent, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of CDC data.

The rise in gun-related deaths among American youth is part of a larger trend of increased firearm deaths across all age groups. In 2021, the total number of gun deaths among Americans of all ages reached a record high of 48,830, the highest yearly total on record and up 23 percent from the 39,707 recorded in 2019, before the pandemic, according to Pew.

Agencies contributed to this story.