The percentage of teenagers who were hospitalized for suspected suicide attempts spiked in 2020 and 2021 amid COVID-19 lockdowns, a new study shows.

Researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found the rate at which girls ages 12 through 17, in particular, were visiting the emergency department (ED) for suicide attempts between February and March of 2021 increased nearly 51% compared to the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools and businesses to close their doors.

While the study published Friday does not examine causes of suspected increased suicide attempts, it notes that "some researchers have cautioned about a potential increase in suicides during the COVID-19 pandemic on account of increases in suicide risk factors." .

ED visits for "mental health concerns and suspected child abuse," which are also risk factors for suicide, "also increased in 2020 compared with 2019 (5), potentially contributing to increases in suspected suicide attempts," researchers wrote.

For a brief period between March and April of 2020, when many states implemented an initial wave of lockdown orders, ED visits for suspected suicide attempts among individuals ages 12 through 25 fell but then began to rise again during the summer of 2020.

Between July and August of 2020, suspected suicide attempts were up more than 26% among girls ages 12 through 17, CDC researchers found.