The Mountain West has some of the highest teen suicide rates in the country. A new report out of the region looks at what conditions contribute to the high rate of youth suicide.
The yearlong came out of the Colorado Attorney General鈥檚 Office.
"Colorado has a teen suicide rate that鈥檚 as the ,鈥� said Andrew Romanoff, the director of . 鈥淛ust a staggering heartbreaking statistic.鈥�
The Attorney General鈥檚 study focused on the four counties with the highest suicide rates: El Paso, Pueblo, Mesa and La Plata. Romanoff said they showed some shared risk factors, from cyberbullying to pressure to fit in at school. But he said, adult mental health played a role too.
"Kids are sponges," Romanoff said. "So they pick up on the stress that adults in their lives feel."
According to the study, that could be stress that comes from unemployment and a slow economy in many of these areas.
鈥淚f your folks can鈥檛 find a job,鈥� said Romanoff, 鈥渋t makes life tough in every way for you.鈥�
Romanoff said identifying this wide range of risk factors is a good start toward prevention efforts in regions with high suicide rates, like in the Mountain West.
According to the United Health Foundation, the rate is 8.9 per 100,000 adolescents aged 15 to 19.
is 28.9 - more than three times the national rate. and are more than two times as much, at 21.2 and 22.5 respectively. and are nearly twice the national rate at 16.3 and 17.6 respectively.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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