LAS VEGAS (AP) — State officials say the suicide rate among Nevada youth has spiked, with more than two dozen children and teens taking their lives last year.
According to the Office of Suicide Prevention, those 27 deaths in 2018 were nearly double the number of youth suicides reported in 2017, and the increase comes amid a similar trend nationwide.
A spokesman for the agency told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an email Friday that an investigation into the increase in the deaths was planned with hopes it could help improve prevention efforts.
However, officials also said that there is rarely a single risk factor that can explain an increase in the deaths.
The state's dataset shows that the suicide rate among other age groups decreased or remained the same between 2018 and 2017.
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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com
