Almost 60% of Teen Girls Felt Persistently Sad or Hopeless in 2021, Study Finds

Almost 60% of teenage girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, according to a new government survey.

The survey found that across almost all measures of substance use, experiences of violence, mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, teenage girls are faring more poorly than their male peers, according to the survey.

In 2021, almost 30% of female students drank alcohol in the past year, and nearly 25% made a suicide plan, the survey found.

The survey, conducted in the fall of 2021, is the latest version of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey. It is the first iteration to account for the pandemic’s impact, STAT reports.

Overall, 40% of high school students said they felt so sad or hopeless that they could not engage in their regular activities for at least two weeks during the previous year.