Depression Among Teens
Female students and lesbian, gay, and bisexual students were much more likely to experience symptoms of depression than other students in King County.
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In a survey of Washington public school students, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders were asked about whether at any time in the past year, they had felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities. Having these feelings consistently can be an indication of depression, a common, serious and treatable disorder. In 2025, 20.8% of students in King County experienced these symptoms in the past year.
Gender: Transgender (47.9%), students identifying as “Other Gender” (45.7%) and those who were questioning their gender (42.2%) students were about three times as likely as male students to experience depressive symptoms. At 25.5%, female students were more likely than male students (14.7%) to experience symptoms of depression.
Sexual orientation: At 39.7%, lesbian, gay, and bisexual students were over twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms as heterosexual students. Students who responded that they were “not sure” of their sexual orientation were also more likely to experience depressive symptoms, at 21.3%.
Place: South Region students were most likely to experience symptoms of depression at 25.7%, which was higher than each of the other regions, which ranged from 16.1% in the East Region to 20.7% in the North Region.
Grade level: The percent of students experiencing symptoms of depression increased with grade level, ranging from 17.9% of 8th graders to 23.7% of 12th graders.
Race and ethnicity: Many students of color, including American Indian/Alaska Native (31.1%), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (27.6%), and Hispanic/Latino (27.5%) students, were more likely to experience symptoms of depression than students of other race/ethnicity groups. Asian students (18.4%) were less likely than students of other race/ethnicity groups to experience symptoms of depression. However, there were differences among Asian students by ethnic group, with Cambodian/Khmer (33.7%), Filipino (26.8%), Vietnamese (24.5%), and students identifying as Asian – Other (21.3%) having higher rates than Asian students overall. There are numerous factors that impact mental health and emotional wellbeing in BIPOC communities. For further reading on this topic please see: Inside the pandemic: Two mental health workers and community volunteers discuss how cultural experiences and racial trauma affect mental health in BIPOC communities.
Trends: Rates of teen depression among 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students increased countywide between 2008 and 2021. Recently, youth and young adults have experienced many disruptions due to COVID-19 and associated mitigation strategies. These include school closures and remote learning, social isolation, family financial hardship, and for some, the illness or death of a family member due to COVID-19. From 2018 to 2021 rates of teen depression increased countywide from 33.3% to 36.8%. Most recently in 2025, rates of teen depression declined steeply to 20.8%.
Additional Resources and Reading on this topic:
Notes and Sources
Source: Healthy Youth Survey
Every 2 years, Washington public school students in 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades answer questions about safety and violence, physical activity and diet, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, and related risk and protective factors.
To learn more about the Healthy Youth Survey and view the data biography, click here.
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