Child and Adolescent Fast Facts

Use these thought-provoking statistics in educational material, websites, and communications with local media and policymakers to boost awareness of children’s mental health issues and their impact on your community—and the nation. These statistics will add punch to your Childhood Depression Awareness Day message!

Children and Families

Only about 21 percent of children in the United States who need mental health services actually receive them. (AJP, Sept. 2002)
About every two hours, a young person kills himself or herself. (AAS, 2002)
Three million teenagers have considered suicide or attempted suicide in the past year. (SAMHSA, 2002)
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people under 24 years old after accidents and homicide. (CDC, 2002)
The suicide rate among males between the ages of 15 and 24 has nearly quadrupled over the last 60 years, and the rate among females in the same age group has doubled. (CDC, 2002)
Five to 9 percent of children in the United States have a serious emotional disturbance. (USSG, 1999)
About 13 percent of children between 9 and 17 years old have an anxiety disorder. (USSG, 1999)
About 4.1 percent of school-age children have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. (NIMH, 1999)
Early-childhood trauma can lead to memory problems and mental and cognitive declines later in life because early emotional stress can lead to a slow decline in neuron communication within the brain, particularly in the region associated with learning and memory recall. (JN, 2005)
Nearly 4 percent of boys and more than 6 percent of girls have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder caused by violence they have endured or witnessed. (JCCP, 2003)
Kids who say other students bully them at school are 50 percent more likely to admit they brought weapons to school during the past month than students who’ve never bullied or been bullied. (NICHHD, 2003)
Nearly two-thirds of boys and three-quarters of girls in juvenile detention centers have a psychiatric disorder. (AGP, Dec. 2002)