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5 Key Facts on Adolescent Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

Despite some modest improvements, many adolescents reported a major depressive episode or anxiety in the past year, while a smaller share reported a substance use disorder.

This brief analyzes the latest data (2024) from the CDC WONDER mortality database and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health to examine the prevalence of adolescent mental health conditions and substance use, related deaths, and access to behavioral health services.

At the Three-Year Mark, Demand for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Continues to Grow

The Impact of Gun Violence on Youth Mental Health and Well-Being

Trends in Child and Adolescent Firearm Deaths

Tracking Key Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Actions Under the Trump Administration

Key CDC Data

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  • Proposed Mental Health Parity Rule Signals New Focus on Outcome Data as Tool to Assess Compliance

    Issue Brief

    Proposed updates to federal mental health parity rules would make wide ranging changes to current standards that apply to private insurance and coverage provided by most employers. This issue brief focuses on one aspect of the new proposal---a requirement that plans perform an “outcome analysis” before they can place certain restrictions on behavioral health coverage. This would require that plans evaluate specific data to determine the impact of certain restrictions on behavioral health access, such…

  • Will Availability of Over-the-Counter Narcan Increase Access?

    Policy Watch

    Making Narcan available OTC has the potential to expand access, but several obstacles may limit its reach. Decisions by pharmacies on whether to stock OTC Narcan, the product's placement within stores, and lingering stigmas can impact accessibility. Furthermore, public knowledge plays a role; many people may not realize that OTC Narcan is available without a prescription from a doctor and that insurance may help cover the costs.

  • New KFF Analysis Shows Number of Suicide Deaths at Record Levels, Driven by an Increase in Firearm-Related Suicides

    News Release

    More than 49,000 people died by suicide across the country in 2022, a record number driven largely by an increase in the number of firearm-related deaths, a new KFF analysis of provisional CDC data shows. Firearm-related suicide deaths have been increasing in recent years and are now the most common method of suicide, accounting for 55% of all suicide deaths in both 2021 and 2022. Deaths from other suicide methods have remained relatively steady. The…

  • U.S. Has the Highest Rate of Gun Deaths for Children and Teens Among Peer Countries

    News Release

    Firearms were responsible for 20 percent of all child and teen deaths in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, compared to an average of less than 2 percent in similarly large and wealthy nations, according to a new KFF analysis. This puts the U.S. far ahead of peer nations in child and teen firearm deaths. Data show that U.S. firearm deaths for children and teens again surpassed motor vehicle deaths – the second leading…

  • Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the U.S. and Peer Countries

    Issue Brief

    Firearms were responsible for 20 percent of all child and teen deaths in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, compared to an average of less than 2 percent in similarly large and wealthy nations. This puts the U.S. far ahead of peer nations in child and teen firearm deaths.

  • One Year After the Launch of 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Hotline Has Received Nearly 5 Million Combined Calls, Texts, and Chats  

    News Release

    Since its launch in July 2022, the 988 national suicide and crisis hotline has received about 4 million contacts, a 33 percent increase from the year before, according to a new KFF analysis of publicly available data through May 2023. The contacts include more than 2.6 million calls, over 740,000 chats, and more than 600,000 texts. The total number of contacts rises to almost 5 million when nearly 1 million additional contacts from the Veterans…

  • New KFF Analysis Examines Rapidly Evolving Federal Policies For Substance Use Disorder Treatment for the Opioid Epidemic  

    News Release

    A new KFF analysis finds that 24 percent more buprenorphine, a medication to treat opioid use disorder, was dispensed in 2022 than in 2019, the year before the pandemic brought a surge of opioid overdose deaths – and a focus on how to expand access and treatment. This upward trend in buprenorphine distribution, already in motion before the pandemic, continued throughout the COVID public health crisis, suggesting continued improvements in access to treatment even as…

  • Addressing the Opioid Crisis: A Look at the Evolving Landscape of Federal OUD Treatment Policies

    Issue Brief

    Federal policies governing substance use disorder treatment have undergone rapid changes during the pandemic; however, the extent to which these changes can address the surge in opioid overdose deaths is unclear. Some of these policy adjustments are permanent, while others could revert to pre-pandemic regulations. In this brief, we examine the following 5 key federal policies and implications for access and treatment for OUD.