Back to school blues: Seasonality of youth suicide and the academic calendar

Abstract

Previous research has found evidence of academic benefits to longer school years. This paper investigates one of the many potential costs of increased school year length, documenting a dramatic decrease in youth suicide in months when school is not in session. A detailed analysis does not find that other potential explanations such as economic conditions, weather or seasonal affective disorder patterns can explain the decrease. This evidence suggests that youth may face increased stress and decreased mental health when school is in session.

Introduction

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth and the suicide rate of 15–19 year olds tripled between 1950 and 1990. Over the same time period, suicide rates for older individuals decreased. A significant literature exists exploring the determinants of youth suicide, with recent studies showing that risky behaviors such as alcohol consumption and sexual activity are associated with youth suicide (Carpenter, 2004, Sabia, 2008). Despite this literature, no previous work (to our knowledge) has directly explored the relationship between school and youth suicide, even though teens are in school for over three-quarters of the calendar year. This paper examines the seasonality of youth suicide with a specific focus on how youth suicide may be related to the typical academic calendar.

Using a panel of state suicide rates between 1980 and 2004, our data show during months that students tend to be on break from school (June, July, August and December), youth suicide is significantly lower than the rest of the year. This pattern does not hold for adults. One possible explanation for the summer decline in youth suicide is the prevalence of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), where individuals become more depressed during the winter months. SAD is most prominent in northern states where the sunlight is limited during the winter, but relatively abundant during the summer. Results show that suicides also decrease during the month of December, when students are typically on winter break, and further analysis shows that the suicide decrease in the summer months is not driven by northern states. Furthermore, SAD affects youth females significantly more than youth males, but males are driving the results below. In addition to investigating the role that SAD plays, economic conditions, weather patterns and divorce rates are also considered and when controlling for these potential factors, the seasonal youth suicide pattern remains.

Recent work shows the benefits of increased schooling,¹ but rarely is the negative impact of schooling considered. Our results suggest that the increased stress that students face throughout the school year may exacerbate mental health issues and increase youth suicide. This potential cost of education should be taken into consideration as school districts debate increasing the length of the academic school year.