APA Services worked with the Democratic Women’s Caucus to secure APA member Celeste Malone, PhD, MS, as a witness at its October 18, 2023, hearing, “Examining the Mental Health Crisis Among Teen Girls: Root Causes and Solutionsopens in new window.” Malone is an associate professor of school psychology at Howard University and previously served on APA’s Board of Educational Affairs and is the immediate past president of the National Association of School Psychologists. The impetus of the hearing was a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PDF, 10 MB)opens in new window, which found that in 2021 over a quarter of teen girls reported seriously considering attempting suicide, with more than 1 in 10 reporting they attempted suicide.
From left to right: Celeste Malone, PhD, MS; Tami Benton, MD, president-elect of the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Representative Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii); Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts); Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin); Mary Lawal, youth mental health advocate; Hannah Wesolowski, MPA, chief advocacy officer at National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Malone’s testimony and responses to questions from members of Congress stressed the importance of recognizing that girls who are often most vulnerable to mental health concerns are also of intersectional identities, including sex, gender identity, race, and sexual orientation. She urged Congress to enact policies that address these unique needs, including by diversifying the mental health workforce and expanding access to culturally responsive mental health services in schools.
For more information, contact Kenneth Polishchuk.