Structural adverse childhood experiences associated with suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and repetitive nonsuicidal self-injury among racially and ethnically minoritized youth

Introduction: High rates of suicidal ideation (SI), suicide attempts (SA), and repetitive nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among some ethnoracially minoritized United States youth populations may be related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with structural roots. Methods: Using the 2013-2019 Minnesota Student Surveys, we assessed associations of student-reported structural ACEs (parental incarceration, housing instability, food insecurity, and foster care […]

Suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury: A narrative review of measurement, risk, and disparities among minoritized and system-involved youth in the USA

Suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among youth in the United States continue to be a growing and serious public health concern. With alarming rates of suicide trending in the wrong direction, researchers are committed to bending the curve of suicide and reducing rates by 2025. Understanding the antecedents and conditions, existing measures, and disparate prevalence […]

Life under pressure: The social roots of youth suicide and what to do about them

A rare study that transforms our understanding of why youth die by suicide, why youth suicide clusters happen, and how to stop them Youth suicide clusters have deeply unsettled communities in recent years. While clusters have been widely documented in the media, too little is known about why youth die by suicide, why youth suicide […]

Sexual violence and suicide risk among LGBTQ+ young people

Sexual violence occurs at alarming rates in the United States (U.S.) and can have devastating impacts on survivors’ mental health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that over half of women and nearly  one-third of men have experienced some form of violent sexual contact in their lives (CDC, 2022). Similarly, in a […]

Adapting a youth suicide prevention program for rural communities in the United States: A feasibility study

Rural youth suicide represents a major source of mental health inequity in the United States (US). School-based suicide prevention programs may provide an effective avenue to address this mental health crisis among rural youth. This study’s primary goal is to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of a novel implementation approach (utilizing teachers from a neighboring […]

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 […]

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 […]

“Where are the pediatricians in all this?”: Family perspectives on the role of pediatricians in mental healthcare and suicide prevention

Rising rates of youth anxiety, depression, and suicide mean that pediatricians are increasingly likely to encounter children struggling with their mental health in their clinical practices. Despite pediatric professional organizations encouraging pediatricians to contribute more to mental healthcare and suicide prevention, research on the role of pediatricians and whether families consider them a resource is […]

Clinical utility of depression measures and symptoms: Implications for suicide risk assessment in high risk, resource limited youth populations

Objective Suicide risk for youth in resource- limited settings has been largely underrepresented in the literature and requires targeted examination of practical ways to address this growing public health concern. The present study focuses on the clinical utility of depression risk assessment tools addressing how and for whom suicide prevention intervention is most beneficial within […]

An analysis of real-time suicidal ideation and its relationship with retrospective reports among young people with borderline personality disorder

Introduction This study aimed to analyze the real-time variability of suicidal ideation intensity and the relationship between real-time and retrospective reports of suicidal ideation made on the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS), among young people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Methods Young people (15–25-year olds) with BPD (N = 46), recruited from two government-funded mental health […]

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 […]

Psychosocial risk factors of youth suicide in the Western Pacific: A scoping review

Introduction: The Western Pacific region accounts for 25% of global suicide rates globally. In the last decade, however, there is a rising concern over the rate of youth suicides in the region. In line with the regional vision of reducing the rate of non-communicable diseases by 2025, the study contributes to the literature by utilizing a […]

Development of “CULTURE FORWARD: A strengths and culture-based tool to protect our native youth from suicide”

Objective: Indigenous knowledge and practices promote American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN; Native) communities’ health and well-being. Historical losses and continued oppression have resulted in disproportionately higher AI/AN youth suicide rates. This article describes the development of a new national resource guide titled “CULTURE FORWARD” for tribal leaders and stakeholders to support youth suicide prevention efforts through […]

Spatial, geographic, and demographic factors associated with adolescent and youth suicide: A systematic review study

Background: Suicide is a public health issue and a main cause of mortality among adolescents and the youth worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Objectives: The present research is a systematic review aiming to investigate the spatial, geographical, and demographic factors related to suicide among adolescents and the youth. Methods: In this systematic review, two researchers examined PsycINFO, Web […]

Global trends in youth suicide from 1990 to 2020: An analysis of data from the WHO mortality database

Background Suicide is a serious but preventable public health concern at the global level, showing relevant geographical differences. This study aims to monitor global temporal and geographical patterns in suicide mortality in pre-adolescents, adolescents, and young adults (i.e., aged 10–24 years), from 1990 to 2020 or the most recent available year. Methods Using the World […]

2024 Mexico national survey on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people

The 2024 México National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People is a groundbreaking study that captures the experiences of over 10,000 LGBTQ+ young people aged 13 to 24 across México. This inaugural report presents findings on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people  in  México, an area in which research has been […]

Understanding factors associated with suicidality among transgender and gender-diverse identified youth

Purpose: Individuals who identify as transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) experience heightened rates of mental health challenges compared with cisgender people (including both heterosexual and lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals). Furthermore, adolescence has been identified as a critical period for intervention as the majority of suicide attempts occur during this time period. However, no study to date […]

Epidemiology of youth suicide and suicidal behavior

Purpose of Review Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people in the U.S. and represents a significant public health problem worldwide. This review focuses on recent developments in our understanding of the epidemiology and risk factors for adolescent suicide and suicidal behavior. Recent Findings The suicide rate among children and adolescents […]

A trauma-informed approach to youth suicide prevention and intervention

Suicide, suicidal behaviors, and self-harm are major public health problems among youth and can often co-occur with traumatic stress experiences and related symptoms. Given this interrelation, it is important that suicide prevention and intervention practices take a trauma-informed approach to reflect the complex, intertwined relation of traumatic stress symptoms and suicidal thoughts/behaviors. To that end, […]

Self-harm and suicide death in the three years following hospitalization for intentional self-harm in adolescents and young adults: A nationwide study

Self-harm is frequent in youths. This study aimed to assess the risk of self-harm and mortality over a three-year period following self-harm hospitalization. Data were extracted from national databases in France. All patients aged 12 to 24 years and hospitalized for self-harm in 2013-2014 were included and compared to age- and sex-matched individuals with no […]

Risk and protective factors for self-harm in adolescents and young adults: An umbrella review of systematic reviews

We conducted an umbrella review to synthesise the evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses that examined the risk and protective factors for self-harm in young people. We searched six different databases and used the AMSTAR-2 checklist for quality assessment. The importance of each risk and protective factor was determined based on (1) the number of times it […]

An exploration of differences between deliberate self-harm with and without suicidal intent amongst a clinical sample of young people in Singapore: A cross-sectional study

This study examined differences between young people with mental illness who engage in deliberate self-harm with and without suicidal intent, as well as socio-demographic and clinical factors that are related to the increased likelihood of suicide attempt amongst self-harming young people. A total of 235 outpatients with mental illness who had engaged in deliberate self-harm […]