Every 2 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts a survey of health behaviors and experiences among a representative sample of approximately 15,000 U.S. high school students. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), most recently released in February of 2023, containing information collected through the fall of 2021, is the first CDC survey on this issue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and reveals that youth indicators of health and well-being, including experiences of violence, mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, continue to trend in the wrong direction.ⁱ

While several indicators of high school students’ health and well-being continue to improve (risky sexual behavior and substance abuse numbers decreased), almost all other indicators are on the rise. For example, certain experiences of violence increased with a commensurate increase in the proportion of students who did not go to school due to safety concerns in the 30 days preceding the survey. Likewise, female students reported an increase in the number of incidents of sexual violence with male students reporting increased electronic bullying. Overall, some 40% of high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless that they could not engage in regular activities for a period of at least 2 weeks in the previous year, an indicator of depression. The number of students seriously considering suicide, attempting suicide, or making a suicide plan increased according to the YRBS.ⁱⁱ

The YRBS focused on a few select questions in the survey because they are not only indicators of mental health and well-being but because they share a set of protective factors that can be addressed at school. Because 95% of U.S. students spend much of their daily lives at school, the YRBS concludes that schools have a “considerable opportunity to foster the knowledge and skills to shape behaviors and experiences and also the responsibility to ensure that all learning is done in a safe and supportive school environment.”ⁱⁱⁱ

In 2022, the School Pulse Panel (SPP) study, sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the Institute of Education Services (IES) within the U.S. Department of Education, reported the results of monthly surveys of K-12 U.S. public school principals on issues concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and staff. The surveys for the 2021-22 school year reveal that 70% of responding schools reported an increase in the number of students seeking mental health services at school since the beginning of the pandemic, with 76% of schools reporting an increase in staff expressing concerns about students exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma.^iv According to NCES Commissioner, Peggy G. Carr, “The pandemic has taken a clear and significant toll on students’ mental health,” calling the SPP study “critical in informing the need for student mental health services.”^v

The SPP study also found that although 96% of schools provided mental health services for students during the 2021-22 schoolyear, 88% of schools did not strongly agree that they could effectively provide these services to all students in need. Respondents to the survey identified the 3 most prevalent limitations on their ability to provide needed mental health services as: 1) an insufficient number of mental health professionals to handle caseloads, 2) inadequate access to licensed mental health professionals, and 3) inadequate funding.

In January 2023, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), a membership group composed of student affairs administrators in higher education, released a survey on the current state of college and student mental health. The survey, conducted in association with Uwill, in September 2022, found that 72% of respondents believe that the overall trajectory of college campus mental health among students, faculty and staff worsened during the past year, with only 11% claiming it has improved. 84% felt their institution should increase its financial commitment to mental health services.^vi

Two bills recently passed by the U.S. Congress provide funding that will help K-12 schools deliver more and expanded types of mental health services. The 2021 American Rescue Plan Actvii allocated $122.8 billion to K-12 schools and many states are using some of this funding to support school based mental health care by paying for more mental health counselors and social workers in schools, partnering with community based mental health agencies to expand access and providing training for school staff and technical assistance for mental health programs in school.^viii The 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Actix allocated funds to support school based mental health services in response to increased gun violence and mass shootings.^x

The American Psychology Association, citing the Healthy Minds Studyxi that collected data from 350,000 students in 373 U.S. colleges, argues that “by nearly every metric, student mental health is worsening.”^xii According to the study, conducted in the 2020-21 school year, 60% of students met the criteria for at least one mental health issue.^xiii  Another national survey reported that almost ¾’s of college students suffered from moderate or severe psychological distress.^xiv In light of these findings, the APA advises that colleges should begin to think outside of the box about how best to help by developing creative solutions for addressing student mental health issues. Among the approaches mental health professionals cite as examples of creative solutions are: