February 21, 2023Teen girls in the U.S. are “engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma,” according to a report released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found alarming increases in rates of rape, depression, suicidality, and cyberbullying among adolescents.1 “The numbers are unprecedented,” said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health. “Our young people are in crisis.”The CDC report echoes findings from a 2022 ADDitude survey of 1,187 caregivers, which found that an astounding 75% of adolescent girls with ADHD also have anxiety, 54% suffer from depression, more than 14% have a sleep disorder, and nearly 12% report an eating disorder — more than three times the national average for neurotypical women.“The kids are not alright.
Not at all,” wrote one ADDitude reader who works as a youth therapist.[The ADHD Symptom Test for Teen Girls]The CDC report, based on the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey, included a nationally representative sample of students in public and private high schools, and it found that adolescent health risks have ballooned to levels never seen before—especially for girls.