Alarming rates of teen suicide continue to increase in U.S.: study

Social media, school stress and firearms continued to push increasing rates of teen suicide in the Untied States, a new study suggests, reported Xinhua.

Researchers from the Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine conducted a study exploring trends in the rates of suicide among 13 to 14 year olds in the country from 1999 to 2018. They also explored possible modifications by sex, race, level of urbanization and census region.

Results showed that among U.S. children ages 13 to 14, suicide rates more than doubled from 2008 to 2018, following a rise in social media and despite significant declines in suicide mortality in this age group previously from 1999 to 2007.

These trends were similar in urban and rural areas but were more common in boys in rural areas where firearms are more prevalent, said the university in a release on Wednesday.

Suicide has become the second leading cause of premature death among those ages 10 to 24. It is the leading cause of death among teens ages 13 to 14, according to the study published online in the journal Annals of Pediatrics and Child Health.