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Mental Health in America - Youth Data
The Youth Data include Youth Prevalence of Mental Health and Substance Use Measures and Youth Access to Care Measures.
Youth Prevalence of Mental Illness
Youth with At Least One Past Year Major Depressive Episode (MDE)
9.86% of youth (age 12-17) report suffering from at least one major depressive episode in the past year. Major Depression is marked by significant and pervasive feelings of sadness that are associated with suicidal thoughts and impair a young person’s ability to concentrate or engage in normal activities.
In 2012-2013, America experienced a 1.2% increase in the percentage of youth who experienced a MDE. According to SAMHSA, 18 states experienced a significant change in percentage rate from 2011-2012. Among those 18 states, every one experienced a significant increase in percentage rate.
Rhode Island, Oregon, and Wisconsin experienced the highest increase in percentage rate over time (roughly +2.5%).
2012-2013 Youth MDE Percentage and Estimated Number by Ranking
Youth with Dependence or Abuse of Illicit Drugs or Alcohol
5.66% of youth in America report having a substance use or alcohol problem – a nearly 1% decrease compared to last year (6.48%).
According to SAMHSA, 15 states experienced a significant change in percentage rate of youth substance and alcohol use from 2011-2012. Among those 15 states, every one experienced a significant decrease in percentage rate. Those states include (in order of those with the largest % change first): New Mexico, Alaska, South Dakota, Minnesota, New Jersey, California, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
2012-2013 Youth Substance Use Percentage and Estimated Number by Ranking
Adult and Youth Substance and Alcohol Problems
There is a moderate correlation between percentages of adult substance/alcohol use and youth substance/alcohol use (r =.52, p=000). Utah has the lowest rates of both adult and youth substance/alcohol use. Georgia, Illinois, and Kentucky also have low rates (top 10) of both adult and youth substance/alcohol use. Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, and Rhode Island have high rates of both adult and youth substance/alcohol use.
Youth with Severe Major Depressive Episode
According to SAMHSA, youth who experience a major depressive episode in the last year with severe role impairment (Youth with Severe MDE) reported the maximum level of interference over four role domains including: chores at home, school or work, family relationships, and social life.
7% of youth (or 1.7 million youth) experienced severe depression. These youth experienced very serious interference in school, home and in relationships.
Wisconsin had the largest percentage change in Youth with Severe MDE with an increase of 6.4% between 2010-2011(4.1%) and 2012-2013 (10.4%).
There is a significant difference in states with the lowest and highest rates of seriously depressed youth. States with highest rates (bottom 10 states) have almost TWICE as many severely depressed youth than states with the lowest rates (top 10 states).
2012-2013 Youth with Severe MDE Percentage and Estimated Number by Ranking
Youth with Severe Depression Compared to Other Positive Outcomes
Top 10 states for Youth with Severe MDE also rank among the top 10 states in the following positive outcomes.
Youth with Severe Depression Compared to Other Poor Outcomes
Bottom 10 states for Youth with Severe MDE also rank among the bottom 10 states in the following poor outcomes. Among the bottom 10 states for Youth with Severe MDE, 6 states had correlations with poor outcomes – shown below.
Youth Access to Care
Youth with MDE who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services
64.1% of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. That means, that 6 out of 10 young people who have depression and are most at risk of suicidal thoughts, difficulty in school, and being in relationship with others do not get the treatment needed to support them.
3:4 - In the worst states like Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas more than 75% of youth with depression are not getting any treatment at all.
Even in the best states, 4 out of 10 youth report that they are not getting treatment.
Hope - There was a 1.9% decline in the number of untreated youth with depression, down from 66.0% in 2010-2011. Hopefully this change represents an increasing commitment to early intervention and prevention of the negative impact of untreated mental illness among our most vulnerable population.
2012-2013 Youth with MDE with No Treatment Percentage and Estimated Number by Ranking
Youth with Severe MDE who Received Some Consistent Treatment
Nationally, only 21.7% of youth with severe depression receive some consistent treatment (7-25+ visits in a year).
15.7% received only 1-6 visits of treatment in the year.
Even among youth with severe major depression, 62.6% did not receive any mental health treatment.
In Nevada (ranked 51), youth with severe depression are 4 times less likely to get some outpatient treatment compared to youth in South Dakota (ranked 1).
**Yellow/Brown maps are used where high percentages are associated with positive outcomes and low percentages are associated with poorer outcomes.
Youth with Severe MDE Visit Distribution
The map below represents the number of outpatient visits a youth with severe depression received in the last year.
Even among youth with severe major depression, 62.6% did not receive any mental health treatment.
Children (0-17) with Private Insurance that Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems
Children and youth are more likely to have insurance coverage compared to adults.
7.9% of youth had private health insurance that did not cover mental or emotional problems. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and Mental Health Parity, fewer youth should lack coverage in the future.
However, like adults, having insurance coverage does not mean that youth are able to access needed treatment. Given the complexities of youth mental health treatment, such as lack of child psychiatrists in the workforce, it is likely that youth will continue to face more barriers to getting needed care compared to adults.
Children in states ranked at the bottom 10 are 3.5 times more likely to lack mental health coverage compared to those in the top 10 ranked states.
Those in Hawaii (ranked 51) are 10 times more likely to be uninsured compared to individuals in Connecticut (ranked 1).
2012-2013 Children Private Insurance Not Covering MH Percentage and Estimated Number by Ranking
Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program
.786% of students are identified as having an Emotional Disturbance (ED) for an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
States in the top 10 (mostly in the Northeast) are 5 times more likely to identify youth with ED as compared to states in the bottom 10.
The term “Emotional Disturbance” is used to define youth with a mental illness for purposes of an IEP. Often times youth with emotional or mental health problems are identified as having other issues rather than an emotional or mental health problem. In such cases, it is unclear whether their mental health problems are taken into consideration in planning for appropriate educational modifications and accommodations in their IEP.
The rate for this measure is shown as a rate per 1,000 students.
The calculation was made this way for ease of reading. Unfortunately, doing so hides the fact that the percentages are significantly lower.
For example, in Vermont (ranked 1), the rate is 25.51, but the actual percentage is 2.55%. That is, 2.55% of students in Vermont are identified as having an emotional disturbance compared to only .17% of students in Arkansas.
**Yellow/Brown maps are used where high percentages are associated with positive outcomes and low percentages are associated with poorer outcomes.
2013 Students Identified as ED for IEP Rate Per 1,000 Students and Number by Ranking
Youth Ranking
The Youth Ranking indicates overall how many youth have a mental health or substance use problem and how many youth have access to care. The Youth Ranking is analyzed by calculating a standardized score (Z score) for each measure, and ranking the sum of the standardized scores for each of the youth measures above.
Click here to learn more about how we calculated our rankings.
The 7 measures that make up the Youth Ranking include: 1) Youth with At Least One Past Year Major Depressive Episode (MDE), 2) Youth with Dependence or Abuse of Illicit Drugs or Alcohol, 3) Youth with Severe MDE, 4) Youth with MDE who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services, 5) Youth with Severe MDE who Received Some Consistent Treatment, 6) Children with Private Insurance that Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems, and 7) Students Identified with Seriously Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program.
States with high rankings (1-10) have lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care for youth. Lower rankings (42-51) indicate that youth have higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care (42-51).
Mental Health in America 2016 Links
The State of Mental Health in America - Home
Ranking Guidelines
Ranking the States -Results of Overall, Adult, Youth, Prevalence, and Access to Care Rankings
Adult Data - Adult Prevalence and Access Data
Youth Data - Youth Prevalence and Access Data
Prevalence Data - How many adults and youth have a mental health or substance use problem in America?
Access to Care Data - How many adults and youth have access to insurance and mental health treatment in America?
Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Health - Issue Spotlight
Glossary and Citations - For Indicators & Positive and Poor Outcomes
Print Version of The State of Mental Health in America
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