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Research

Youth Suicide Trends Vary Across Countries and by Sex

First study to compare trends side by side across three countries using the most recent data including both teenagers and young adults.

Suicide remains a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults worldwide. However, recent global data reveal heterogeneous suicide trends across regions.

A new study by researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine has found that suicide rates among young people (ages 10-29) are moving in very different directions across countries. In the U.S. and Canada, most groups of young people are seeing stable or even declining rates, except for Canadian teenage girls, who continue to show increases. In South Korea, however, suicide rates among both young men and women have sharply increased in recent years, especially among young women.

“One especially important finding for the U.S. is that, after decades of increases, youth suicide rates have recently begun to level off or even decline in several groups. This is the first clear signal of reversal in many years and may reflect the impact of recent prevention programs,” says corresponding author Seungbin Oh, PhD, LPC, NCC, assistant professor of psychiatry. “However, in the U.S., young men still carry the highest overall suicide rates, reminding us that they continue to account for a disproportionate share of suicidal deaths, even as overall trends improve.”

Using national death records from the U.S., Canada and South Korea, the researchers reviewed every suicide death among young people ages 10-29 from 2001 to 2023. They then used Joinpoint Regression Program software to analyze trends and identify periods when suicide rates were rising, falling or staying the same, which allowed them to see when the trends shifted and how patterns differed by age group and gender.

According to the researchers, understanding where suicide rates are rising versus falling is essential for preventing further loss of life.

“Suicide prevention is not ‘one size fits all,’” Oh said. “The data emphasizes the importance of sustaining and strengthening prevention. Clinically, this suggests that prevention must be tailored not only by country but also by gender and age group.”

These findings appear online in the Journal of Preventive Medicine.