The risk of suicide for kids and teens rises during the school year, researchers said, reflecting the impact of its social and learning pressures on young people’s mental health.
Children from the ages of 10 to 18 are more likely to appear at hospitals for suicidal thoughts or attempts in the spring and fall than during summer vacation, according to a study from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston released Wednesday. The pattern paused in the beginning of 2020, when many schools emptied during the early days of COVID-19.
After falling during the first year of the pandemic, suicides rose dramatically in the U.S. in 2021, jumping about a third to more than 48,000 amid lockdowns, loss of loved ones and fear of the coronavirus. Although suicide risk is known to be seasonal, with some research linking springtime increases to changes in the weather, the study reinforces the role of the demanding school schedule and environment.
“The in-school experience brings social, academic and extracurricular stressors as well as poorer sleep habits, each of which may have detrimental outcomes” for mental health, the study authors wrote in the JAMA Network Open medical journal.
The researchers compared other months of the year against January, when the suicide rate was close to the yearly average during the period from 2016 to 2019 and 2021. Visits related to suicide rose 15% in April across the period and 24% in October, according to an analysis of insurance claims data. They hit their lowest levels in July, falling 37% compared to January after adjusting for age, sex and other factors.
Adults also saw a drop-off in suicide-related visits in April 2020, which could show that other pandemic-related effects played a part, the authors said. For example, fear of the virus may have made people shy away from seeking help. The effect lasted longer in young people, however, with relatively few visiting ERs or being hospitalized in May, while the rate rebounded for adults.
The rate of suicide-related incidents climbed over the years studied, except for 2020, matching other research showing that young people are increasingly likely to suffer from depression and to die by suicide. Understanding seasonal patterns could help doctors and health officials intervene to stop suicides, the authors of Thursday’s report said.
“Intervention efforts can benefit by targeting periods of heightened risk,” they wrote.
