Exercise, sleep and support from adults are associated with lower likelihood of poor mental health and suicide risk among high school students, the CDC found.
The agency published its study Oct. 8 based on results from the 2023 youth risk behavior survey. The survey includes more than 20,000 students in grades 9-12 from all 50 states.
In 2023, around 40% of students reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, 29% experienced poor mental health, 20% seriously considered attempting suicide and 10% reported attempting suicide.
CDC researchers identified five protective factors associated with lower risk of poor mental health or suicide risk:
- Students that were physically active for one hour for five or more days a week had a lower prevalence of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
- Getting eight or more hours a sleep a night was associated with a lower prevalence of all mental health and suicide risk indicators.
- Students that reported high parental monitoring had a lower prevalence of most mental health and suicide risk indicators, except for poor mental health.
- Students that reported high levels of connectedness at school had a lower incidence of all risk factors.
- Playing on at least one sports team was associated with a lower risk of most risk indicators, except for attempted suicide.
Read the full report here.