Sleep measures as a predictor of suicidal ideation among high‑risk adolescents

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 15–24 years. Identifying modifiable risk factors relevant to adolescents is crucial for suicide prevention. Sleep patterns have been linked to suicidality in adults, but lack sufficient study in youth. This ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study aimed to explore the relationship between objectively and subjectively measured […]

Acceptance-based parent training intervention for youths with co-occurring psychotic symptoms and suicidal behaviors: A case series from an open trial

Youths with psychosis have the highest suicide risk yet have few effective interventions for suicide prevention and symptom management that address the family context. Adolescents Coping with Co-occurring Early Psychosis Treatment (ACCEPT) is a time-limited, adjunctive intervention designed to support parents of adolescents with psychotic symptoms and suicidal behaviors. ACCEPT targets family processes implicated in […]

Suicide prevention in pediatric health care settings

Given recent trends demonstrating increased suicide risk among youth, particularly those from minoritized populations, youth suicide is a major public health concern. Evidence-based practices for the identification and management of youth suicide risk have been developed, yet many challenges exist to implementing them routinely in health care settings. Suggestions for leveraging publicly available resources, gathering […]

The relationship between suicidal behavior and perceived stress: The role of cognitive emotional regulation and problematic alcohol use in Spanish adolescents

Suicidal behavior has become an important public health problem, correlating with stress and emotional deficits in recent research. This study examined the relationship between perceived stress and suicidal behavior risk, testing the mediating roles of cognitive emotion regulation and impulsivity, and the moderating role of problematic alcohol use in stress-suicidal behavior association in a sample […]

Trauma-informed school-based prevention services: Support to students following a suicide death

This paper highlights the role of school social workers and other school-based mental health professionals in postvention activities, supports and services provided by the school following a student’s suicide death. Reflecting the traumatic nature of the unexpected death of a student in the school community, the described postvention activities use SAMHSA’s trauma-informed principles to frame […]

Bullying victimization and suicidal ideation in adolescents: The moderation effect of family, teachers and peers support

The aim of this study has been to analyze the moderation role of social support in the relationship between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation in adolescents. For this purpose, 898 Spanish adolescents (MAge = 13.55; SD = 1.26) responded to the Peer School Victimization Scale, to the Scale of Perceived Social Support, to the Spanish Adaptation of School Environment Scale, and […]

Young people’s pathways to a specialist suicide prevention service and the influence of caregiver prior suicidality and mental health treatment

Aim Timely help-seeking and pathways to care (PtC) have been linked to positive outcomes in suicidal adolescents. While the importance of formal contacts is recognized, caregivers also play a significant role in these pathways. Caregiver’s familiarity with mental health issues may influence an adolescent’s PtC. This study explores the relationship between a caregiver’s prior suicidality […]

Trajectories and predictors of change in emotion dysregulation and deliberate self-harm amongst adolescents with borderline features

Background Deliberate self-harm (DSH) and emotion dysregulation (ED) peaks in adolescence, and is associated with an increased risk of psychopathology, suicide and lower functioning in adulthood. DBT-A has been established as an effective treatment for reducing DSH, however less is known about changes in emotion dysregulation. This study aimed to identify baseline predictors of treatment […]

A linguistic analysis of Instagram captions between adolescent suicide decedents and living controls

Background: Suicide rates continue to rise for adolescents in the United States. 62% of teenagers use Instagram, and as technology and research in this domain advance, social media posts could provide insights into near-term adolescent risk states and could inform new strategies for suicide prevention. This study analyzed language in captions of teenagers’ Instagram accounts […]

Suicide in the press: An analysis of newspaper coverage of adolescent versus adult suicides in Italy

An association between sensationalized media reporting and subsequent increase in suicidal behavior has been documented, and adolescents are especially vulnerable to imitative influences. The aims of this study were to examine the characteristics of the articles reporting adult and adolescent (under age 18) suicides in the Italian press and to assess adherence to the World […]

Social support systems involved in suicide prevention and intervention among adolescents: A Delphi study in Shanghai

The rotes of attempted and completed suicide among adolescents are increasing globally. Social support can help decrease the risk of adolescent suicide, but this aspect has been rarely studied in China. The present study aimed to use the Delphi methodology to establish a set of guidelines for the development of social support resources, with the […]

Sleep and mood disorders among youth

Research suggests that sleep plays an important role in the development, progression, and maintenance of mood disorder symptoms among children and adolescents.1-4 While most of the extant research focuses on the relationship between insomnia and mood disorders, other sleep disorders such as delayed sleep phase, inadequate total sleep duration and bedtime resistance in younger children may […]

When night falls fast: Sleep and suicidal behavior among adolescents and young adults

Sleep disturbances have been linked to suicidal ideation and behaviors in adolescents. Specifically, insomnia and nightmares are associated with current suicide risk and predict future ideation. Associations between hypersomnia, sleep apnea, and suicide remain inconclusive. Potential biological mechanisms underlying these relationships include executive functioning deficits and hyperarousal. Related psychological factors may include thwarted belongingness, perceived […]

The prevalence of off-label use and supratherapeutic blood levels of outpatient psychotropic medication in suicidal adolescents

Introduction: Adolescents with mental disorders show an increased risk of suicidal phenomena. Vice versa, suicidality is a serious adverse event of psychotropic drug therapy in adolescents. There are only a few new psychotropic agents approved for this young age group. We evaluated the (pre-pandemic) prevalence of off-label use as well as detailed blood concentrations of outpatient […]

Predictive factors of substance misuse and abuse in South Korean adolescents: A secondary data analysis of the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey

Purpose This study aimed to identify the general characteristics and health behaviors of students with non-therapeutic substance use. Methods This secondary data analysis used data from the 17th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2021). Analyses of the 54,848 adolescents used descriptive statistics, the Rao–Scott χ2 test, and logistic regression. Results The risk factors for substance […]

Perceptions of key stakeholders on peer led strength building program for suicide prevention among young adolescents: A qualitative study from Karnataka, India

Context: Adolescent suicides are a significant public health concern in India and understanding the intersecting perspectives becomes imperative for the prevention of various mental health concerns. Aim: Assessing perceptions of various key stakeholders, that is, mental health experts, school and college teachers, and District Mental Health Program staff about peer-led strength building programs for suicide […]

Emotion dysregulation, bullying, and suicide behaviors in adolescents

Background: Among adolescents, rates for suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) remain high. Adolescents also often experience bullying, which has been found to associate with increased risk of suicide attempts and NSSI. Emotion regulation difficulties are associated with both bullying victimization and self-harm behaviors in adolescents. Aims: The current study examined the relationship between emotion […]

Distinct correlation network of clinical characteristics in suicide attempters having adolescent major depressive disorder with non-suicidal self-injury

Suicidal behavior and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are common in adolescent patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Thus, delineating the unique characteristics of suicide attempters having adolescent MDD with NSSI is important for suicide prediction in the clinical setting. Here, we performed psychological and biochemical assessments of 130 youths having MDD with NSSI. Participants were divided […]

Breakfast habits, sedentary behavior, and suicide among Korean adolescents: A cross-sectional national study

This study aims to identify the relationships between breakfast habits, leisure-time sedentary behavior, and suicidal behaviors among Korean adolescents, including the mediating effect of leisure-time sedentary behavior on the relationship between breakfast habits and suicidal behaviors. We conducted a cross-sectional national study using secondary data from the 2017–2019 (13–15th) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Surveys, […]

The effect of parent–adolescent discrepancies in reports of familial dysfunction and depression on suicidal ideation in adolescents

Introduction Parents and adolescents are often discrepant in their reports of adolescent psychosocial factors. Few studies have addressed parent–adolescent discrepancies in subjective ratings of familial dysfunction and depression as longitudinal predictor variables, and none have done so in a treatment setting for adolescents with acute suicidality. This study examined how parent–adolescent discrepancies in familial dysfunction […]

How to survive the long night? Longitudinal relationship between sleep problems and suicidal behavior among adolescents: The serial mediating roles of negative emotion, self-control, and nonsuicidal self-injury

Objective Sleep problems are a significant risk factor for identifying and preventing suicidal involvement among adolescents. However, there is limited evidence to assess the underlying mechanisms between them. This study investigated the longitudinal relationship between sleep problems and suicidal behavior and examined whether this relationship was moderated by negative emotions, low self-control, and nonsuicidal self-injury […]

A profound absence of counseling interventions for suicide prevention among youth in Africa: A call to action based on an empty scoping review

Objective One-third of all global suicide deaths occur among adolescents and young adults, making suicide the second leading cause of death among young people. Nearly 80% of suicide deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and many African nations have higher rates of suicide than global averages. However, interventions are scarce. We conducted a scoping […]

Examining highly novel positive future thinking in suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents

Objective Although traditionally considered protective, certain forms of positive future thinking (PFT) may be associated with greater suicide risk. In this first a priori investigation of potential maladaptive forms of PFT, we tested whether novelty (i.e., dissimilarity to past experiences) and lack of attainment of the imagined positive future may explain counterintuitive associations between PFT […]