OCMH Senior Research Analyst Amy Marsman spotlights recent articles, resources, and research findings impacting youth mental health.
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Forced Hospitalizations Can Increase Violence, Suicides, and Homelessness
A study examining the various outcomes of civil commitment (forced psychiatric hospitalization) of adults 18-65 found that involuntary hospitalization nearly doubles the risk of dying by suicide or overdose. The researchers reviewed evidence from more than 16,000 evaluations for involuntary hospitalizations order by 424 physicians at 14 different hospitals over the course of 10 years. The researchers also provided a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to summarize their results.
Fact Sheet: Protecting Tribal Youth
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has a variety of suicide prevention resources for tribal communities, including a new fact sheet on the protective factors that support Tribal youth and Native American mental health.
Post-Pandemic Mental Health: Data, Research and Trauma-Informed Care Resources
Nurses are raising awareness about trauma-informed care (TIC) and its role in supporting the mental health of college students with a Post-Pandemic Mental Health: Data and Resources page. Research shows that during the pandemic, over 70% of students reported increased stress and anxiety, with many experiencing sleep disturbances and academic challenges. As students continue to face mental health struggles, trauma-informed approaches are essential for fostering emotional well-being and success on campus. TIC helps address the lasting effects of trauma from experiences like childhood adversity, difficult transitions, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 Annual Data Release
This year, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps released a model of health along with the 2025 Annual Data Release. The new model of health includes “Feelings of Loneliness” as an important contextual measure of life satisfaction. Social connection is a critical factor in cognitive, physical, and mental well-being. By recognizing loneliness as a key measure, the model underscores the importance of fostering inclusive communities, equitable access to resources, and policies that support meaningful social interactions. Users can explore county-level data on loneliness and compare to the state (32%) and nation (33%).
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released 2024 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The data include estimates of substance use, mental health, and treatment in the U.S.
Updated Overdose Data
The CDC provided updated overdose death data. As of July 2025, adjustments for delayed reporting are based on provisional data from 2024. Adjustment models are typically updated once sufficient data from the prior year of data are available. Wisconsin saw a 37.7% drop in overdose deaths. As noted in the provisional release in May, almost all states across the nation saw decreases, except South Dakota and Nevada which had slight increases compared to the same period in 2023. Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. experienced declines of 35% or more, far greater than the national drop of 26%.
Substance Use Trends in Adolescents
The Wisconsin Public Psychiatry Network Teleconference (WPPNT) is an ongoing, free, online series open to anyone interested in learning more about various mental health and substance use disorder topics. Their recent session, held August 14, covered the science of addiction and adolescent development, current trends in substance use among adolescents, including the decline in alcohol use along with details on myriad substances being used and or marketed to youth. The presentation slides and a recording are both available.
Most Parents Are Going into Debt to Provide for Their Kids
Newsweek reported on a new study of 2,000 U.S. parents with kids ages 0 to 18 that found a significant portion of parents had taken on thousands in medical debt. Now, the majority (59%) of American parents are in debt due to the costs of raising children, and 81% said they prioritized providing for their kids over paying down debt, reflecting increasing concerns over the affordability of having children and the financial strains affecting families. Some reported skipping meals to cover the basic necessities for their children. Parents in debt are 50% more likely to skip meals and twice as likely to neglect their physical and mental health as those not in debt.
New Brief: Home Visiting Services with Justice-Involved Families
The Urban Institute reports that more than 5.2 million children in the United States have experienced the incarceration of a parent, a known adverse childhood experience (ACE) that can negatively impact young children’s well-being. Up to 19% of children with parents in state prison and 13% of children with parents in federal prison are estimated to be 4 years old or younger. An additional 55,000 women experience pregnancy while in prison each year. These adverse experiences can be traumatic for young children and lead to lifelong disparities in health, behavior, and achievement. Home visiting can provide holistic support to justice-involved families in the community and during incarceration. The brief, developed for the National Home Visiting Resource Center, highlights five voluntary initiatives that support the needs of justice-involved families.
School Climate, Peer Connections, and Self-Efficacy
A study from Norway found that self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of mental well-being among secondary students. Time spent with friends, health satisfaction, and classroom climate were also important predictors. The authors note that the findings emphasize the critical role of self-efficacy, peer connections, and supportive classroom climates in promoting mental well-being. Addressing these elements of school climate can significantly enhance the mental health and overall outcomes of students.
Preschool Children Reap Long-Term Effects of a Social and Emotional Education Program
Social and Emotional Education (SEE) interventions during early childhood have shown considerable promise in enhancing children’s emotional understanding, social competence, and behavioral adjustments. However, few studies have examined their long-term impact, especially across the preschool-to-primary school transition. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a manualized SEE program, Timmy’s Trip to Planet Earth, in promoting emotional, behavioral, and social functioning over time and found significant reductions in conduct problems and increased prosocial behaviors for the children who had the SEE. A significant interaction effect was found for social competence, with the intervention group showing greater improvement over time compared to the control group. The findings suggest that SEE programs can produce meaningful and lasting improvements in children’s emotional and social skills across key educational transitions.
Active Shooter Drills in Schools: Protecting Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health
Active shooter drills are now common in schools across the country, but concerns are growing about their impact on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of students and staff. Without consistent standards or trauma-informed practices, some drills may cause more harm than good.
A new report examines how active shooter drills are conducted and offers evidence-based strategies to reduce harm. Developed by a multidisciplinary committee of experts in education, school safety, public health, pediatrics, child and adolescent development, psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, public policy, and criminology, the report provides practical recommendations for educators, school leaders, policymakers, and federal agencies. It highlights key facts, covers the role of school climate and offers next steps. Also see the report highlights and interactive page.
DOJ Staff Collecting Feedback on SUSO: Speak Up, Speak Out
Staff from the Wisconsin Office of School Safety (in the Wisconsin Department of Justice) are looking for feedback on SUSO (Speak Up, Speak Out), the 24/7 tipline that the Office of School Safety operates. If you have fresh ideas and feedback on how to enhance SUSO instruction, rollout, and day-to-day implementation to better serve Wisconsin students, staff, and law enforcement partners, please email hailey.everson@wisdoj.gov. Staff are specifically interested in:
- Creative ways to introduce SUSO to students.
- Strategies to keep SUSO visible and top-of-mind throughout the year.
- Strengthening school and law enforcement collaboration on tips.
- Training staff and students to use the system effectively.
- Engaging staff, parents, and community members in supporting the SUSO mission.
Support for School Cellphone Bans Increasing
Pew Research found that 74% of U.S. adults say they would support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during class, up from 68% last fall. Far fewer (19%) oppose classroom bans and 7% are unsure, according to a survey conducted in June. As of this summer, Time reported that 37 states have banned cell phones and other internet-connected devices during class. About half of those states and D.C. are phone-free from “bell-to-bell,” which keeps kids from accessing their phones during lunch and between classes. Support for all-day bans has grown across age groups since last year, though younger adults are less supportive than older people on this type of restriction.
Teens Weigh in on the Impact of Social Media on Themselves and Their Peers
Pew Research found about half of teens (48%) say social media have a mostly negative effect on people their age, an increase from 32% in 2022. And fewer now see social media as having a mostly positive effect: 11% say this, down from 24% in 2022. Another 41% say these platforms have neither a positive nor negative effect on their peers. The survey also asked teens how they think these platforms affect them personally. Far fewer teens say social media has a negative effect on them than say this of their peers (14% vs. 48%) – a pattern similar to 2022.
While 50% of the teens said that social media neither helps nor hurts their mental health, 19% said it does hurt their mental health and 10% said social media helps their mental health. Additionally, a third of teens get mental health information from social media; teen girls (40%) and Black teens (49%) are more likely to say they get mental health information this way, compared to their peers.
Nearly 3 in 4 Teens Have Used AI Companions, New National Survey Finds
Common Sense Media released the report "Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions," which revealed widespread use of social AI companions among users ages 13-17. The research underscores that the use of AI companions is not a niche interest, but rather mainstream teen behavior – at a time when kids and teens report increasing loneliness and isolation. Related, The Rithm Project released 5 Principles for Prosocial AI, a framework that is grounded in youth voice, research, and real-world use cases to encourage tech that supports healthy human connection.
Researchers Posed as a Teen in Crisis. AI Gave Them Harmful Advice Half the Time.
EdWeek reported that the Center for Countering Hate released a report earlier this month based on case studies of researchers posing as three 13-year-olds who each discussed one of the following topics with ChatGPT: self-harm and suicide, eating disorders, or substance abuse. Each case study had 20 predetermined prompts from the fake teenager and resulted in 1,200 responses from ChatGPT. The OpenAI tool responded in a harmful way more than half the time.
Rand Study Finds AI Chatbots Inconsistent in Answering Questions About Suicide; Refinement Needed to Improve Performance
Three widely used artificial intelligence chatbots, used by a growing number of people, including children, generally do a good job responding to very-high-risk and very-low-risk questions about suicide, but they are inconsistent in answering questions about suicide that may pose intermediate risks, according to a new RAND study. The researchers found that large language model (LLM) based chatbots’ responses to queries aligned with experts’ judgment about whether to respond to queries at the extremes of suicide risk (very low and very high), but the chatbots showed inconsistency in addressing intermediate-risk queries, underscoring the need to further refine LLMs to ensure that chatbots provide safe and effective mental health information.
Mental Health America Report on the Complex Relationship of Technology and Mental Health
A new report examining the relationship between technology use and mental health shows complexity: tech is essential but likely over used. Those with better mental health are more likely to feel connected, informed, and productive through tech, whereas those with poor mental health feel more worthless, addicted, and anxious. Findings also reveal that youth are particularly likely to be dependent on technology, and less likely to limit their use. Recommended policy and program options for responsible use by youth are also provided.
Between Screens and Self-Perception
Adolescence is a critical period for identity development and self-perception, increasingly shaped by digital media. This study aimed to examine how gender, body mass index (BMI), and Internet use influence body esteem and global self-esteem among adolescents aged 15–18 years old, with particular focus on the psychological impact of digital exposure.
The researchers found that girls reported significantly lower self-esteem scores than boys, despite no significant gender differences in BMI. Since time spent online was negatively associated with self-esteem, with the most pronounced effects among girls using the Internet for more than four hours daily, the researchers concluded that girls are especially vulnerable to digital media’s adverse effects on self-esteem.
Research-at-a-Glance from Children and Screens
Children and Screens has two Research-at-a-Glance documents related to digital media. These publications are designed especially for parents, caregivers, and professionals who work with children and adolescents; they distill the latest research into a two-page visual summary: LGBTQ+ Youth and Digital Media Use, and Suicide, Self-Harm, and Digital Media Use.
Children and Screens also offers summaries of the Handbook of Children and Screens: Digital Media, Development, and Well-Being from Birth Through Adolescence. This handbook is a comprehensive, open access resource featuring 400 contributing expert authors and include the latest research, insights, and actionable recommendations about digital media and its impact on children and adolescents.
Parents’ Digital Media Habits More Influential Than Screen Time Limits
The Children’s Hospital Association released results from a study that finds parents’ digital media habits are almost 10 times more influential on teen problematic internet use than screen time limits. These findings suggest that coaching around positive parent-child relationships and healthy family internet use habits that include shared digital experiences may more effectively address problematic internet use than enforcing child screen time limits.
The Data Behind the Divide: Youth Voices on Politics, Family, and Mental Health
The reactions, emotions, and perspectives of youth under 18 are often overlooked in political research. To address this, Surgo Health collected quantitative and qualitative insights from a nationally representative sample of youth ages 13 to 24. They found a link between youth’s perceptions of the current federal administration and emotional and social wellbeing.
Politics and media coverage are macro-level dynamics shaping micro-level experiences, from strained friendships to family tensions. Understanding how youth are internalizing the political climate is important to supporting their mental health, wellbeing, and resilience. They found that political divides are hurting youth relationships, and that youth want open, respectful political dialogue at home. Further, they found that youth who feel invalidated by parents and caregivers are twice as likely to lack meaning in life.
Cohort Study: Community-Level Determinants of Loneliness and Social Isolation Require Community-Level Interventions on Social Cohesion and Community Engagement
A study examining community-level determinants of loneliness and social isolation found that low community engagement/low neighborhood social cohesion is the strongest risk factor for loneliness and social isolation in both younger and older populations. The findings highlight the critical need for community-level interventions and tailored public health strategies that address social cohesion and community engagement – and further suggest that focusing solely on individual-related factors is insufficient to addressing social isolation.
Coproducing a new scale: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS)
The high prevalence of loneliness in young people, aged 10-24 years, is increasingly recognized as an urgent global health concern. A lack of loneliness scales that can accurately capture the authentic experiences of young people has hampered progress in our understanding of youth loneliness, as well as the development of preventative policies and interventions. The authors provide a protocol for developing and validating an age-sensitive loneliness scale for young people: the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS). The scale is designed to measure loneliness in the general population of young people in the UK. The YLS scale and results of its psychometric evaluation will be published open-access. The authors encourage the use and adaptation of the protocol to develop age-sensitive loneliness scales for other populations.
Missing teens where they are: Analysts highlight a school-sized gap in mental health screening
The Harvard Gazette reported on a new study that finds a big increase in the number of schools screening students for problems with anxiety and depression, the most common mental health concerns among youth. 30.5% of school principals reported their district mandating schools screen students for mental health problems. If a student is identified as having anxiety or depression, most principals reported their school typically notifies the student’s parents (79.3%), offers in-person treatment (72.3%), and refers the student to a community mental health care professional (53.0%).
The analyses indicated higher rates of screening occurred in school sizes of 450 or more students and in districts with mostly racial and ethnic minority groups as the student population.
Social Support and the Health of Transgender and Nonbinary Young People of Color
TGNB (transgender and nonbinary) young people of color who receive high levels of social support from their families have greater access to care, better mental health, and were 34% less likely to attempt suicide than those with low or moderate levels of family support.
Further, having high levels of social support from friends and living in an accepting community were both associated with a 28% lower odds of considering suicide in the past year, according to the Trevor Project.
Disconnected Young Adults and NEET data
This research brief explores the characteristics and trends of young people ages 16-24 who are classified as NEET—not in education, employment, or training. The authors explore how parenthood, disability, race, and geography shape NEET status differently across genders. They found NEET rates are 3 times higher for those with a disability. Parenting also plays a role: 20% of NEET women and 3% of NEET men are caring for children. The overall 2024 data show NEET rates for men and women were both around 12%.
OCMH Research and Data Resources
Key Facts in Youth Mental Health: https://children.wi.gov/Pages/ResearchData/KeyFacts.aspx
Fact Sheets:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/ResearchData/FactSheets.aspx
Data Sources:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/Resources/DataSources.aspx
Research News in Youth Mental Health:
https://children.wi.gov/Pages/OCMHNewsletters.aspx
Youth Mental Health Initiatives: https://children.wi.gov/Pages/Resources/ChildrensInitiatives.aspx
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