NC Child report card gives North Carolina's children's MH an ‘F’

Abstract

NC Child released their 2023 child health report card on April 4, which grades North Carolina on 15 indicators of child health in the state, EdNC reported April 24. This year the report card's focus issue was children's mental health. North Carolina scored an “F” in mental health, showing a serious decline for students in the wake of the pandemic. Post pandemic, 10.2% of high school students who attempted suicide were reported, according to NC Child, a 23.2% increase from baseline. Adolescents ages 12‐17 with major depressive episodes similarly increased by 25.8%. More than one in 10 children ages 3–17 in North Carolina had a diagnosis of depression or anxiety in 2020 — a 49% increase from 2016.” The report finds that children who experience discrimination are disproportionately impacted, reporting worse mental health than their counterparts. “LGBTQ+ students are more than three times more likely to consider or attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers,” the report says. Hispanic or Latinx high school students reported the highest rates of attempted suicide within the past year, at 13.3%. That number was 12.5% for white high school students and 11.8% for African American or Black students.