North Carolina Youth mental health makes post-pandemic rebound

Youth mental health in North Carolina has made overall improvements after major pandemic dips and nearly a decade of decline, new data shows.

Why it matters: The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare students' struggles as well as a fractured system to help them navigate recovery.

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• Youth mental health was already on the downturn before the pandemic, which exacerbated the problem.
• Last month, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said young people are in a decade-long mental health crisis.

State of play: North Carolina was one of seven states identified by Axios where surveys showed lower rates of sadness and hopelessness in published 2023 data.

• Overall, dedicating more resources to student well-being during the pandemic has started to pay off, Kathleen Ethier, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health, told Axios.
• "These improvements, they're not huge, but they are important," she said.

Data: Axios research; Note: Includes states with Youth Risk Behavior Survey data published as of June 2024; Washington data is an average of 10th and 12th grade results (unavailable for 2019); Chart: Axios Visuals

How it works: North Carolina administers a list of CDC-created questions to a random sample of high school students every other year.

• Answers are anonymous and students can opt out.

By the numbers: Some 43% of North Carolina high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless on five of the last seven days in a 2021 survey — an increase of 7% from 2019.

• Last year, that number decreased: 39% of high schoolers surveyed reporting feelings of sadness or hopeless.
• Middle schoolers reported a similar decrease — 35% said they felt sad or hopeless in 2021, compared with 32% last year.

Zoom in: The percentage of high school students who seriously considered suicide also dropped to 18% (2023) from 22% (2021).

• North Carolina high school students used fewer vape products, marijuana and alcohol in this same time period.

The intrigue: More high school and middle school students in North Carolina reported being physically active for at least 60 minutes five or more days a week.

State officials noted the correlation between physical activity and mental health in a press release detailing the data last month .

• Improvements were also attributed to local, state and federal investments into school counselors and establishing school-based mental health policies, said Ellen Essick, the section chief for the state's healthy schools and specialized instructional support.

Worth noting: When the state expanded Medicaid last year, it received a "signing bonus" from the federal government.

• In turn, the state has invested hundreds of millions in mental health services that support children, state health department Secretary Kody Kinsley tells Axios.
• "We're glad to see early indicators of improvement. But building a continuum of care and normalizing the conversations about mental health must continue," Kinsley said. "This can't be a quick fix, we have to keep at it."

The bottom line: "We have a lot of work to continue doing," Essick said.

• "It's not a time to rest on our laurels, but it's a time to keep pushing forward and thinking about all the things we can do to support our students and our staff."

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