Volume 30, Issue 169, March 2026

Adolescent Mental Health in Europe: Correlations between Self-Reported Emotional Well-being and Suicide Mortality Among Adolescents

Fryderyka Orawczak^1♦, Agata Olecka², Julia Gałązka³, Tomasz Karwowski⁴, Zuzanna Czuba⁵, Mateusz Mazurek⁶, Maciej Świerczyna⁷, Mikołaj Kotusiewicz⁸, Filip Gałązka⁹, Jakub Majcherek¹⁰

¹Medical University of Lodz, Al. Kościuszki 4, 90-419, Łódź, Poland
²7th Military Naval Hospital, Polanki 117, 80-305 Gdańsk, Poland
³Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Wóycickiego 1/3, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland
⁴Voivodeship Hospital in Płock, Medyczna 19, 09-400 Płock, Poland
⁵Medical University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 61, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
⁶Medical University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 61, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
⁷Ministry of the Interior and Administration Hospital, Północna 42, 91-425 Łódź, Poland
⁸Jagiellonian University: Kraków, Lesser Poland
⁹Copernicus PL Sp. z o.o., St. Adalbert Hospital, aleja Jana Pawła II 50, 80-462 Gdańsk, Poland
¹⁰Voivodeship Hospital in Tarnów, Lwowska 178A, 33-100, Tarnów, Poland

^♦Corresponding author
Fryderyka Orawczak, Medical University of Lodz, Al. Kosciuszki 4, 90-419 Lodz, Poland

ABSTRACT

Objective: Adolescent mental health is a critical public health issue. In Europe, suicide is one of the leading causes of death among young people, with a rising trend observed in recent years. Methodology: This study analyses the relationship between self-reported mental health indicators and suicide mortality rates among adolescents aged 15–19 across 30 European countries, with a particular focus on Poland. We sourced the data from the 2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) and Eurostat (ESTAT). We examined variables such as bullying, family support, body image and substance use for their potential correlations with suicide rates. Results: The only variable that has a statistically significant correlation with higher suicide mortality is “negative body image” (ρ = -0.435, p = 0.018). Polish adolescents reported the worst body image among all 30 European countries included in the study, consistently across the 11-, 13- and 15-year-old age groups. Other variables did not demonstrate a significant correlation with suicide mortality. Conclusion: To prevent further escalation of adolescent suicide in Europe, it is essential to understand the multilayered risk factors involved. In particular, future research should prioritise the determinants of negative body image in youth, as it has been shown to be a statistically significant risk factor associated with increased suicide mortality rates. Gender-specific research is also necessary as the risk factors may vary depending on gender.

Keywords: suicide mortality, body image, public health, Adolescent mental health

Medical Science, 2026, 30, e51ms3750

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v30i169.e51ms3750

Published: 12 March 2026