Colorado teens' mental health dramatically improves
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Colorado students are reporting improvements in their mental health and overall well-being. Photo: Karl Gehring/The Denver Post via Getty Images
The number of Colorado teens reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness is the lowest it's been in a decade, a new statewide survey of young people found.
Why it matters: The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the mental health of Colorado kids, but the latest data shows their well-being is bouncing back amid numerous state efforts to address the issue.
Zoom in: The biennial Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, conducted in the fall of odd-numbered years, gathered voluntary responses from more than 120,000 students across 344 public middle and high schools in 46 Colorado counties.
- The survey, released Thursday, found the share of high schoolers who feel sad or hopeless almost every day dropped 14 percentage points, to 26%, between 2021 and 2023.
- That's the lowest it's been since the survey's inception in 2013, when it was 24%.
- Youth who seriously considered suicide dropped 6 percentage points from 2021, to 11%.
- The number of high schoolers using substances including cannabis, alcohol and nicotine has also decreased over the last few years.
What they're saying: "We're hopeful this is an indication of state and community investments in prevention programming and protective factors paying off," Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of Colorado's health department, said in a statement.
State of play: Colorado leaders have taken several steps to combat the youth mental health crisis in recent years, including investing in school counselors, creating a program that offers teens free therapy sessions, and passing a law designed to curb screen time among young people.
Yes, but: When it comes to LGBTQ+ youth, negative health impacts persist.
- 45% of surveyed transgender students and 37% of nonbinary kids seriously considered suicide in the past year, compared to just 10% of their cisgender peers.
- "We hope to build on some of the positive trends coming out of the survey to close the gaps we see for LGBTQ+ youth in Colorado," Lena Heilmann, director of Colorado's Office of Suicide Prevention, said in a statement.
- That includes training health care providers to conduct suicide screenings and assessments, adapting those trainings to be culturally inclusive, and helping school staff understand how discrimination impacts LGBTQ+ kids.
The intrigue: Although survey results from middle schoolers show similar improvements to high schoolers in mental health and suicide outcomes, their alcohol use has more than doubled.
- In 2023, 24% of middle schoolers reported having tried alcohol compared to just 11% in 2021.
- Meanwhile, 14% of middle schoolers reported trying their first drink before age 11, almost triple the rate from 2021 (5%).
The bottom line: "Protective factors, such as supportive adults, clear family rules, and feeling safe and connected at school, help youth to thrive," Heilmann said.