Mental health and suicide among youth residing in frontier and remote areas

Aims

Examine state-level data from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), and frontier and remote area (FAR) codes. Compare state-level data from the NSCH and YRBSS to state's FAR codes, to explore correlations between youth mental health/suicide and geographic remoteness.

Methods

State-level data from the NSCH, YRBSS and FAR codes were organized into tables. For each variable, states were ranked from 1 to 50 and assigned a numeric value. Using this numeric ranking system, Kendall's tau-b was used to examine correlations between NSCH data and FAR codes, and YRBSS data and FAR codes.

Results

There were no significant correlations between any FAR level and any NSCH variable. There were significant correlations between level 1 FAR areas and suicidal ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempt. There were also significant correlations between FAR levels 2, 3, and 4 and suicidal ideation and suicide planning.

Conclusion

Continued surveillance of youth mental health is important in building the evidence base. However, because suicidal ideation and suicide planning appear higher across all FAR levels, there is opportunity to implement sustainable approaches to prevent suicidal behaviors among youth in FAR areas.