Since 2007, the suicide rate for girls ages 10 to 14 has increased by about 13% per year. It’s gone up about 7% per year for boys in the same age group.
For girls ages 15 to 19, the rate has gone up about 8%; for boys, 3.5%.
The study — authored by Donna Ruch of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio; Arielle Sheftall of the Ohio State University College of Medicine; and Paige Schlagbaum of West Virginia University — did not analyze the cause of the trend.
“What we’re seeing is alarming,” Ruch told Time. “On top of the fact that females are thinking about suicide more and attempting suicide more, now they’re actually completing suicide.”