As of 2022, the third leading cause of death among teenagers aged 15 to 19 years in the United States was intentional self-harm or suicide, contributing around 17 percent of deaths among age group. The leading cause of death at that time was unintentional injuries, contributing to around 37.4 percent of deaths, while 21.8 percent of all deaths in this age group were due to assault or homicide. Cancer and heart disease, the overall leading causes of death in the United States, are also among the leading causes of death among U.S. teenagers. Adolescent suicide in the United States In 2021, around 22 percent of students in grades 9 to 12 reported that they had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Female students were around twice as likely to report seriously considering suicide compared to male students. In 2022, Montana had the highest rate of suicides among U.S. teenagers with around 39 deaths per 100,000 teenagers, followed by South Dakota with a rate of 33 per 100,000. The states with the lowest death rates among adolescents are New York and New Jersey. Mental health treatment Suicidal thoughts are a clear symptom of mental health issues. Mental health issues are not rare among children and adolescents, and treatment for such issues has become increasingly accepted and accessible. In 2021, around 15 percent of boys and girls aged 5 to 17 years had received some form of mental health treatment in the past year. At that time, around 35 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 years in the United States who were receiving specialty mental health services were doing so because they had thought about killing themselves or had already tried to kill themselves.

In 2022, the leading causes of death among children and adolescents in the United States aged 10 to 14 were unintentional injuries, intentional self-harm (suicide), and cancer. That year, unintentional injuries accounted for around 25 percent of all deaths among this age group. Leading causes of death among older teens Like those aged 10 to 14 years, the leading cause of death among older teenagers in the U.S. aged 15 to 19 years is unintentional injuries. In 2022, unintentional injuries accounted for around 37 percent of all deaths among older teens. However, unlike those aged 10 to 14, the second leading cause of death among teens aged 15 to 19 is assault or homicide. Sadly, the third leading cause of death among this age group is suicide, making suicide among the leading three causes of death for both age groups. Teen suicide Suicide remains a major problem among teenagers in the United States, as reflected in the leading causes of death among this age group. It was estimated that in 2021, around 22 percent of high school students in the U.S. considered attempting suicide in the past year, with this rate twice as high for girls than for boys. The states with the highest death rates due to suicide among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years are Montana, South Dakota, and New Mexico. In 2022, the death rate from suicide among this age group in Montana was 39 per 100,000 population. In comparison, New York, the state with the lowest rate, had just five suicide deaths among those aged 15 to 19 years per 100,000 population.

Over the last few years, gun violence in the United States has become an increasingly deadly public health crisis. In 2021, firearms were the leading cause of death for children and adolescents aged one to 19 years old for a second year in a row in the United States, with ***** deaths from firearms, which accounted for more deaths than car crashes and other diseases in that year. This is an increase from the previous year, when there were ***** deaths from firearms. Gun violence in the U.S. Along with a rise in gun-related deaths, the United States has been experiencing an overall increase in gun violence, including mass shootings, school shootings, and gun homicides. Not surprisingly, the United States has also reported in increase in gun sales, with the unit sales for firearms reaching a new high in recent years. A uniquely American problem Despite the rise of gun violence and gun-related deaths, guns remain easily accessible in the United States and gun control has become a divisive issue throughout the nation. However, gun control proponents often call attention to the uniquely American phenomenon of school shootings. Since 2018, the annual number of incidents involving firearms at K-12 schools in the U.S. reached over *** in each year, while similar incidents in other countries with strict gun laws are exceptionally rare.

Rank, number of deaths, percentage of deaths, and age-specific mortality rates for the leading causes of death, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

This statistic presents the global death rates for the leading causes of death among males aged 10 to 19 years in 2015, per 100,000 population. Road injuries emerged as the leading cause of global deaths among adolescent males aged 10 to 19 years with a death rate of 14.3 per 100,000 population.

In 2022, the leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States aged 15 to 19 was accidents or unintentional injuries. At that time, the death rate for accidents among teens aged 15 to 19 years was 22 per 100,000 population.

Number of deaths and age-specific mortality rates for selected grouped causes, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

ObjectivePromoting adolescent health is essential to achieving the goals of the Healthy China 2030 (HC 2030) initiative. As socioeconomic conditions improve and medical practices and disease patterns evolve, adolescent mortality rates and causes of death vary considerably. This study provides up-to-date data on adolescent mortality and causes of death in China, highlighting key areas of focus for investment in adolescent health.MethodsData regarding mortality and causes of death in Chinese adolescents aged 10–19 years were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease study from 1990 to 2019. The data variables were examined according to year, sex, and age. The autoregressive integrated moving average model was used to predict non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality rates and rank changes in the leading causes of death until 2030.ResultsThe all-cause mortality rate (per 100,000 population) of Chinese adolescents aged 10–19 years steadily declined from 1990 (72.6/100,000) to 2019 (28.8). Male adolescents had a higher mortality (37.5/100,000 vs. 18.6 in 2019) and a slower decline rate (percent: −58.7 vs. −65.0) than female adolescents. Regarding age, compared with those aged 10–14 years, the mortality rate of adolescents aged 15–19 years had a higher mortality (35.9/100,000 vs. 21.2 in 2019) and a slower decrease rate (percent: −57.6 vs. −63.2). From 1990 to 2019, the rates of communicable, maternal, and nutritional diseases declined the most (percent: −80.0), while injury and NCDs mortality rates were relatively slow (percent: −50.0 and −60.0). In 2019, the five leading causes of death were road injuries (6.1/100,000), drowning (4.5), self-harm (1.9), leukemia (1.9), and congenital birth defects (1.3). Furthermore, NCDs' mortality rate decreased by −46.6% and −45.4% between 2015–2030 and 2016–2030, respectively.ConclusionA notable decline was observed in all-cause mortality rates among Chinese adolescents aged 10–19 years. In addition, the mortality rates of NCDs are projected to meet the target from the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's, and Adolescents' Health (2016–2030) and HC2030 reduction indicators by 2030. However, it should be noted that injury is the leading cause of death, with sexual and age disparities remaining consistent.

Teenage and total suicide deaths at either the state or county level.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in the US. Understanding how suicide affects your community can help to address the many factors that contribute to this preventable public health problem.

In 2022, the leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 24 years old in South Korea was suicide, resulting in approximately **** deaths per 100,000 population. Suicide has been the primary cause of death among people aged 10 to 24 in South Korea for the past few years.

IntroductionAlthough child and adolescent health is the core of the global health agenda, the cause of death and its expected contribution to life expectancy (LE) among those aged 5–14 are under-researched across countries, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsDeath rates per 10 years age group including a 5–14-year-old group were calculated by the formula, which used the population and the number of deaths segmented by the cause of death and gender from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. LE and cause-eliminated LE in 10-year intervals were calculated by using life tables.ResultsIn 2019, the global mortality rate for children and adolescents aged 5–14 years was 0.522 (0.476–0.575) per 1,000, and its LF was 71.377 years. In different-income regions, considerable heterogeneity remains in the ranking of cause of death aged 5–14 years. The top three causes of death in low-income countries (LICs) are enteric infections [0.141 (0.098–0.201) per 1,000], other infectious diseases [0.103 (0.073–0.148) per 1,000], and neglected tropical diseases and malaria [0.102 (0.054–0.172) per 1,000]. Eliminating these mortality rates can increase the life expectancy of the 5–14 age group by 0.085, 0.062, and 0.061 years, respectively. The top three causes of death in upper-middle income countries (upper MICs) are unintentional injuries [0.066 (0.061–0.072) per 1,000], neoplasm [0.046 (0.041–0.050) per 1,000], and transport injuries [0.045 (0.041–0.049) per 1,000]. Eliminating these mortality rates can increase the life expectancy of the 5–14 age group by 0.045, 0.031, and 0.030 years, respectively.ConclusionThe mortality rate for children and adolescents aged 5–14 years among LMICs remains high. Considerable heterogeneity was observed in the main causes of death among regions. According to the main causes of death at 5–14 years old in different regions and countries at different economic levels, governments should put their priority in tailoring their own strategies to decrease preventable mortality.

IDPH Leading Causes of Death, Youth - Ages 15-24, 2008

NOTE. RRfem, Relative risk for females compared with males; CI, confidence interval; χ2, chi-squared.aStatistics presented exclude deaths with undetermined cause (n = 174); of 238 NCD deaths, 13 ‘other’ NCDs are excluded from main cause of death analysis.bCD, communicable diseases (HIV, TB, malaria, other common infections).cHIV/TB is the combination of all deaths diagnosed with either TB or HIV as the cause of death.dSignificantly higher proportion of deaths in males, inverse RRmales presented [in brackets].

According to the data from 2025, some 16 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Cancer ranked second on the list with 15 percent. Issues with healthcare costsCurrently, the most urgent problem facing American healthcare is the high costs of care. The high expense of healthcare may deter people from getting the appropriate treatment when they need medical care or cause them to completely forego preventative care visits. Many Americans reported that they may skip prescription doses or refrain from taking medication as prescribed due to financial concerns. Such health-related behavior can result in major health problems, which may raise the long-term cost of care. Inflation, medical debt, and unforeseen medical expenses have all added to the burden that health costs are placing on household income. Gun violence issueThe gun violence epidemic has plagued the United States over the past few years, yet very little has been done to address the issue. In recent years, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Even though more than half of Americans are in favor of tougher gun control regulations, there is little political will to strongly reform the current gun law. Gun violence has a deep traumatic impact on survivors and society, it is developing into a major public health crisis in the United States.

Number of deaths and mortality rates, by age group, sex, and place of residence, 1991 to most recent year.

The leading causes of death among children aged 5 to 9 years in the United States in 2022 were unintentional injuries, cancer, and congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities. At that time, unintentional injuries accounted for around 28 percent of all deaths among this age group. Child abuse in the U.S. Sadly, assault or homicide, was the fourth leading cause of death among those aged 5 to 9 years in the United States in 2022, accounting for around 9.4 percent of all deaths. That year, there were around 113,259 cases of child abuse in the U.S. among children aged 6 to 9 years and 129,846 cases among children aged 2 to 5 years. In 2022, there were around 5.36 child deaths per day in the United States due to abuse and neglect. Suicide among children Assault or homicide was also among the top five leading causes of death among children aged 10 to 14 years, but perhaps even more troubling is that suicide is the second leading cause of death among this age group. As with younger children, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among those aged 10 to 14 years, however, suicide accounts for around 13 percent of all deaths among this age group. Comparatively, suicide is not among the ten-leading causes of death among children from the age 1 to 9 years.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is a set of surveys that monitor priority health risk behaviors and experiences that contribute markedly to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth of grade 9 -12 in the United States. The surveys are administered every other year and it is maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A total of 107 questionnaire are asked. Some of the health-related behaviors and experiences monitored are: * Student demographics: sex, sexual identity, race and ethnicity, and grade * Youth health behaviors and conditions: sexual, injury and violence, bullying, diet and physical activity, obesity, and mental health, suicide attempt * Substance use behaviors: electronic vapor product and tobacco product use, alcohol use, and other drug use * Student experiences: parental monitoring, school connectedness, unstable housing, and exposure to community violence The dataset is used by a group of graduate students from Texas State University for 2025 TXST Open Datathon. The main YRBSS dataset includes data of multiple years, various states, district. For analyzing demographic variations associated with suicide, the 1991–2023 combined district dataset (https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/files/sadc_2023/HS/sadc_2023_district.dat) is used, which offers a broad historical perspective on trends across different groups. To examine the preventive measures and develop a predictive model for suicide risk, the 2023 dataset (https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/files/2023/XXH2023_YRBS_Data.zip) was used, ensuring the inclusion of the most recent behavioral and attributes. Please review the 2023 YRBS Data User's Guide by CDC for further information.

BackgroundMental health conditions and psychiatric disorders are among the leading causes of illness, disability, and death among young people around the globe. In the United States, teen suicide has increased by about 30% in the last decade. Raising awareness of warning signs and promoting access to mental health resources can help reduce suicide rates for at-risk youth. However, death by suicide remains a taboo topic for public discourse and societal intervention. An unconventional approach to address taboo topics in society is the use of popular media.MethodWe conducted a quantitative content analysis of mainstream news reporting on the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why Season 1. Using a combination of top-down and bottom-up search strategies, our final sample consisted of 97 articles published between March 31 and May 31, 2017, from 16 media outlets in 3,150 sentences. We systematically examined the news framing in these articles in terms of content and valence, the salience of health/social issue related frames, and their compliance with the WHO guidelines.ResultsNearly a third of the content directly addressed issues of our interest: 61.6% was about suicide and 38.4% was about depression, bullying, sexual assault, and other related health/social issues; it was more negative (42.8%) than positive (17.4%). The criticism focused on the risk of suicide contagion, glamorizing teen suicide, and the portrayal of parents and educators as indifferent and incompetent. The praise was about the show raising awareness of real and difficult issues young people struggle with in their everyday life and serving as a conversation starter to spur meaningful discussions. Our evaluation of WHO guideline compliance for reporting on suicide yielded mixed results. Although we found recommended practices across all major categories, they were minimal and could be improved.ConclusionDespite their well intentions and best efforts, the 13 Reasons Why production team missed several critical opportunities to be better prepared and more effective in creating social impact entertainment and fostering difficult dialogs. There is an urgent need to train news reporters about established health communication guidelines and promote best practices in media reporting on sensitive topics such as suicide.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) monitors 6 types of health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults, including: behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV infection; alcohol and other drug use; tobacco use; unhealthy dietary behaviors; inadequate physical activity. YRBSS also measures the prevalence of obesity and asthma among youth and young adults. YRBSS includes a national school-based survey conducted by CDC and state, territorial, tribal, and local surveys conducted by state, territorial, and local education and health agencies and tribal governments.

According to the data from January 2024, 22 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Mental health ranked second on the list with 15 percent. Issues with healthcare costsCurrently, the most urgent problem facing American healthcare is the high costs of care. The high expense of healthcare may deter people from getting the appropriate treatment when they need medical care or cause them to completely forego preventative care visits. Many Americans reported that they may skip prescription doses or refrain from taking medication as prescribed due to financial concerns. Such health-related behavior can result in major health problems, which may raise the long-term cost of care. Inflation, medical debt, and unforeseen medical expenses have all added to the burden that health costs are placing on household income. Gun violence issueThe gun violence epidemic has plagued the United States over the past few years, yet very little has been done to address the issue. In recent years, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Even though more than half of Americans are in favor of tougher gun control regulations, there is little political will to strongly reform the current gun law. Gun violence has a deep traumatic impact on survivors and society, it is developing into a major public health crisis in the United States.