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TOPLINE
Adolescents with suicidal ideation had significantly higher odds of suicide attempts than those without, even if they reported good mental health. Those who consistently reported good mental health with suicidal ideation had higher odds of attempting suicide than those who always reported poor mental health without suicidal ideation.
METHODOLOGY
- Researchers conducted a secondary analysis of the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey to examine the risk for suicide, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and mental well-being among high school students in the United States.
- A total of 14,744 participants (50.3% male individuals; 49.2% White individuals) in grades 9 through 12 from 36 states, three tribal governments, five territories, and 21 local school districts were included in the analysis.
- Suicidal ideation was assessed by determining whether participants had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.
- Mental health was evaluated on the basis of how often it was not good during the past 30 days and was categorized as never, sometimes, or always.
TAKEAWAY
- Among participants, 21.7% reported having considered suicide in the past 12 months, and 5.5% reported one suicide attempt, 3.4% reported two or three attempts, 0.5% reported four or five attempts, and 0.8% reported six or more attempts.
- Compared with participants who always reported poor mental health without suicidal ideation, those who always reported good mental health with suicidal ideation had higher odds of more suicide attempts (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 19.138; P < .001), and those with suicidal ideation and sometimes good mental health also had higher odds (aOR, 17.676; P < .001).
- Female participants had higher odds of suicide attempts than male participants (aOR, 1.189; P < .05).
- White participants had lower odds of suicide attempts than multiple non-Hispanic participants (aOR, 0.676; P < .001).
IN PRACTICE
"The findings provide a strong rationale for advocating for the routine screening of both suicidal risk and mental health status within healthcare settings. Regarding pediatric primary care, specifically, consideration of universal suicide screening among the adolescent patient population may be warranted after reviewing this study's findings," the researchers wrote.
SOURCE
The study was led by Ashley E. Barber, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, PMHS, CNE, of the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University in Atlanta. It was published online on September 4, 2026, in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care.
LIMITATIONS
The study relied on secondary data from a school-based survey. Survey participants were not recruited from pediatric primary care clinics, which may limit generalizability to primary care settings.
DISCLOSURES
The study did not receive any specific funding. The authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
