Rate of depression is double for Calif. gay, lesbian, bisexual youth

Rate of depression  for California gay, lesbian, bisexual youth

An alarming 61%of youth who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual have felt depressed in the previous year in contrast to 29% of their peers who identify as straight, according to Kidsdata.org.

These students, who are in grades 7th, 9th, or 11th grade or are in non-traditional programs, felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more that they stopped doing their usual activities.

Disparities among youth who experience depression-related feelingsvary widely across student groups.

Students with particularly high percentages of depression-related feelings include those in non-traditional schools, those with low levels of school connectedness, those whose parents did not graduate from high school, and American Indian/Alaskan Native or Hispanic students.

The tables below call attention to disparities among groups of students. Use the links to see additional data by county and school district.

Depression-Related Feelings Among Student Groups, 2013-2015

By grade level »

This data release about emotional health is a part of Kidsdata’s Youth in Schools series. In partnership with WestEd, we are featuring data from the California Department of Education’s California Healthy Kids Survey.