Needham survey shows declines in youth vaping and marijuana use but flags alcohol and mental-health risks

Needham public health officials and youth services leaders told the Select Board on Feb. 25 that results from the Metro West Adolescent Health Survey show declines in use of electronic vaping products and marijuana among Needham high school students, but sustained high alcohol rates and persistent mental-health concerns.

The survey, administered every other year and in which Needham has participated since 2006, had participation rates of about 90 percent in middle school and 85 percent in high school, presenters said. Julie McCarthy, epidemiologist in the Public Health Division, and Karen Shannon, the town’s substance use prevention coordinator, emphasized that the 2023 instrument added a question about prescription drug use for the first time, so there is no prior-year comparison for that measure.

The data show continuing decreases in current 30‑day use of marijuana and electronic vapor products among high school students, McCarthy said, and an increased perception among students that those substances are harmful. “We’re seeing a continuing decrease,” she said of marijuana and vaping trends. But alcohol remains the most commonly reported substance: Needham high school lifetime alcohol use in 2023 was about 8 percentage points higher than the Metro West regional average, presenters said.

Speakers warned that lifetime-use figures rise sharply from middle to high school in some categories, especially alcohol between eighth and ninth grades. The survey is administered to each grade every other year, so results are cross‑sectional rather than cohort-tracking; McCarthy said that pattern nevertheless appears consistently when the survey is run.

On mental health indicators, presenters reported that 31 percent of students said their life was “very stressful” in the past 30 days and that school was the most frequently named source of stress. The presentation noted that 2 percent of high school respondents reported a suicide attempt in the prior 12 months — roughly 28 students in the district based on the survey sample — and that, in this iteration, middle-school respondents reported suicidality at rates higher than high-school respondents.

Sarah Shine, director of Youth & Family Services, described recent local efforts to expand access to care: the department has increased clinical capacity by adding interns and grant-supported staff, launched more group and community programs, and provided teen mental health first-aid training to all 10th graders. Shine said Youth & Family Services aims to reduce stigma, speed access to evaluation and treatment, and expand parent education and community-based services.

Karen Shannon explained prevention work led by the Substance Prevention Alliance of Needham (SPAN), which uses the Strategic Prevention Framework and a coalition model to implement school and community strategies. SPAN runs alcohol compliance checks and responsible beverage-service training with the Police Department, organizes parent education and prescription drug take-back days, and mounts positive-norms campaigns to correct students’ overestimation of peer substance use.

Speakers and board members said they expect to use the survey to guide programming and outreach, and to bring targeted prevention efforts to schools and families. Presenters invited follow-up questions and offered to provide more-detailed cross-tabs on request.

The Select Board did not take formal action on the presentation; presenters noted the next survey administration will be 2025 and encouraged continued community prevention and clinical initiatives.