2026年4月22日 23:32 UTC / 路透社
史蒂夫·戈尔曼 撰文
2026年4月22日 晚上11:32 UTC 更新于29分钟前
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- 内容摘要
- 该热线服务关联的自杀人数低于预期
- 自988取代10位号码后，热线使用量翻番有余
- 研究结果支持简化热线接入可挽救生命的观点
路透社4月22日电 — 哈佛主导的一项周三发布的研究显示，在美国全国性“988”自杀预防热线开通后的头两年半时间里，美国年轻人的自杀人数比预期少了数千人。
研究人员同时发现，在2022年7月至2024年12月的研究周期内，青少年和年轻成年人的自杀死亡预期降幅在988来电量最高的10个州最为显著。
可通过路透社健康简报栏目了解最新医学突破与医疗趋势，点击此处订阅。
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研究结果印证了心理健康专家的主张：通过提供全国统一的三位数988 shortcut，替换此前的10位免费号码，简化自杀热线的接入方式，能够挽救生命。
该研究结果发表在《美国医学会杂志》上。
自2022年988 shortcut上线以来的头三年里，全国自杀预防生命线的总联系量翻番有余，同时美国各地也投入了15亿美元用于扩大危机中心的工作人员队伍与服务能力。《美国医学会杂志》引用的数据显示，青少年和年轻成年人在热线使用人群中占比高得不成比例。
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自杀预估数低于实际统计数
最新这项研究分析了1999年至2022年全国生命统计系统中15至34岁人群的季度自杀死亡数据，并以此为基础建模，预测如果没有988服务，2022年7月至2024年12月期间的自杀死亡率会是多少。
随后研究人员将这些预估数据与研究周期内的实际自杀死亡率进行了对比。
研究人员发现，在这两年半的时间里，共有35529名15至34岁的美国人自杀身亡，比预估总数减少了4732人，降幅达11%，研究作者称这一降幅“具有统计学意义”。
研究还发现，65岁及以上人群的自杀死亡率也有所下降，但降幅较小，仅为4.5%。
研究人员同时指出，有数据警告称，自杀和危机服务的持续获取依赖于“持续的资金投入”，而现有资金水平可能无法满足近一半美国州的服务需求。
他们还提到，特朗普政府去年夏天取消了专为年轻LGBTQ群体设立的专属988服务——此前该群体占所有988热线来电的10%——“可能会打消他们使用该热线的积极性”。
988号码设立的背景
988的推出正值美国自杀率在热线设立前的几年里大幅攀升之际。非营利健康政策组织凯撒家庭基金会的数据显示，2014年至2024年间，共有超过51.6万人自杀身亡，其中枪支导致的自杀占比超过一半。
凯撒基金会报告称，截至去年7月，988热线自开通以来已接到1650万次联系，其中包括1110通来电、290万条短信和240万次在线聊天。
周三发表在《美国医学会杂志》上的这项研究由哈佛医学院合作开展，合作伙伴包括波士顿的布里格姆妇女医院、麻省总医院，以及马萨诸塞州剑桥市的美国国家经济研究局。
在相关发现中，总部位于旧金山的免费短信心理健康支持非营利组织危机短信热线周三表示，该机构去年收到了超过150万条短信。
该组织称，这相当于每20秒就收到一条短信，是危机短信热线12年历史以来的最高流量，超过了新冠疫情最严重时期的峰值。
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Suicide among young Americans declines in first years of 988 hotline
2026-04-22 23:32 UTC / Reuters
By Steve Gorman
April 22, 2026 11:32 PM UTC Updated 29 mins ago
A cyclist rides past a suicide prevention sign on a protective fence on the walkway of the George Washington Bridge between New York and New Jersey in New York, U.S., January 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Segar Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
- Summary
- Service linked with fewer people than expected taking own lives
- Use of hotline more than doubles since 988 replaced 10-digit number
- Findings support idea that simplified hotline access save lives
April 22 (Reuters) – Thousands fewer young Americans than expected took their own lives during the first two-and-a-half years following the launch of a national “988” suicide-prevention hotline in the U.S., according to a Harvard-based study published on Wednesday.
Researchers also found that reductions in expected suicide deaths among adolescents and young adults were greatest in the 10 states with the highest traffic in 988 calls during the study period, which ran from July 2022 through December 2024.
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The findings support the premise, advocated by mental health professionals, that simplifying access to the suicide hotline by providing a national three-digit 988 shortcut to call or text the service – replacing the earlier 10-digit toll-free number – saves lives.
The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Overall contacts with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline more than doubled in the first three years since the 988 shortcut went live in 2022, along with $1.5 billion in investments to expand crisis-center workforce and capacity across the country. Adolescents and young adults accounted for a disproportionately higher share of hotline usage, JAMA-cited data shows.
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SUICIDE PROJECTIONS LOWER THAN ACTUAL TALLIES
The latest study analyzed quarterly suicide deaths recorded among individuals aged 15 to 34 in the National Vital Statistics System for 1999-2022, and used that data to model what suicide mortality would likely have been from July 2022 through December 2024 absent the 988 service.
Those projections were then compared with actual suicide mortality figures for the study period.
Researchers found that 35,529 Americans aged 15-34 took their own lives during that 2-1/2-year period, down 4,732, or 11%, from the projected total, a reduction that authors of the study called “significant.”
Suicide mortality among people aged 65 and older also dropped, but less sharply, by 4.5%, the study found.
Researchers also pointed to data warning that sustained access to suicide and crisis services depends on “continued investment,” and that existing funding levels will likely fall short of meeting demand in nearly half of all U.S. states.
They also noted that a specialized 988 service tailored for young LGBTQ adults, who previously accounted for 10% of all 988 hotline contacts, was eliminated by the Trump administration last summer, “potentially dissuading their use” of the hotline.
WHY THE 988 NUMBER EXISTS
The advent of 988 came as U.S. suicide rates surged in the years prior to the hotline being established. More than 516,000 people took their own lives between 2014 and 2024, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health policy organization, with guns accounting for more than half of all suicides.
As of last July, the 988 hotline had received 16.5 million contacts since its launch, including 11.1 million calls, 2.9 million texts and 2.4 million chats, Kaiser reported.
Wednesday’s JAMA study was led by the Harvard Medical School in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In related findings, the Crisis Text Line, a San Francisco-based nonprofit providing free text-based mental health support said on Wednesday that it received more than 1.5 million texts last year.
That averages out to one text message every 20 seconds, the highest volume in the Crisis Text Line’s 12-year history, surpassing the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization said.
Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by David Gaffen
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