Rising summer heat linked to higher US youth suicide rates, especially ages 15 to 24. Really!

Why not all day long intense social media consumption on phones? This appears to be junk science to keep up the global warming/climate change hoax!

This study was conducted by researchers from Yale University and Brown University. I suspect this apparently shoddy research article was primarily produced to garner attention and citations. 

The reminder that the golden rule of statistics correlation is not causation may apply here too! Moreover, the higher suicide rates appear to be highly geographically concentrated (see chart below).

Notice also the difference between younger people and to general population is only 0.02 percentage points, i.e. 0.75% v. 0.73%. Even the summer effect difference is only 0.29 percentage points.

"... A recent U.S. study found that higher summer temperatures were strongly associated with increased suicide rates among youth, with the connection appearing specifically in summer. During those months, every 1°C (1.8°F) rise in average monthly temperature was associated with a 2.68% increase in the suicide rate. The summer heat effect was strongest among older teens and young adults ages 15 to 24. ..."

From the abstract:

"Abstract

Objective:

The impact of higher ambient temperature on suicide is well documented in the general population, although it remains unclear in youths despite their particular biosocial vulnerability. In an ecological study, the authors examined this relationship, focusing on seasonal differences.

Methods:

The authors calculated monthly suicide rates in young people (ages 5–24) by county using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau from 1980 to 2004 in the contiguous United States.
Fixed-effects regression was used to estimate relative risk of suicide per 1°C change in average monthly temperature overall and by season, accounting for precipitation, region, county, month, and year.
Age-stratified analysis (ages 4 to 65+) assessed whether effects were unique to young people. Heterogeneity models examined the impacts of legal sex, income, race, education, geographic division, and rurality.

Results:

Averaged across seasons, suicide in young people increased 0.75% (95% CI=0.34, 1.16) per 1°C increase, comparable to the general population (0.73%, 95% CI=0.53, 0.93).
This effect was significant only in summer, and it was substantially larger in summer (2.68% per 1°C; 95% CI=1.42, 3.94).
Age stratification showed that 15- to 24-year-olds were uniquely vulnerable compared to other age groups (2.97% per 1°C; 95% CI=1.30, 4.65). Most geographic regions experienced this association, and no sociodemographic differences were identified.

Conclusions:

Summer heat is associated with higher suicide rates among late adolescents and young adults, who appear most at risk. This association likely reflects neurobiological and socioenvironmental conditions of young people that amplify heat-related mental health risk. These data highlight the need to study how ambient temperature impacts youth mental health and develop biosocially informed interventions as temperatures rise."

Rising summer heat linked to higher US youth suicide rates, especially ages 15 to 24

Deadly Heat: The Association Between Ambient Temperature and Suicide in Young People in the United States (open access)

FIGURE 1.  Trends in the effect sizes of the association of summer ambient temperature and suicide in young people (ages 5–24 years) by year and geographic division ... 
In panel B, the geographic divisions are color coded by natural breaks classification (Jenks) for the magnitude of the association.