Suicide and Suicide Prevention

Youth in the child welfare system who died by suicide were significantly more likely to experience out-of-home placements and be diagnosed with mental and physical health conditions compared with controls. Suicide decedents were twice as likely to access mental health services in the 1 and 6 months before death, regardless of the health care setting. A significantly higher percentage of suicide decedents used physical health services 6 months before their death or index date. Emergency department visits for both physical and mental health conditions were significantly more likely to occur among suicide decedents.

This Guide for the Development of an LGBTQ Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy lays the groundwork for a coordinated, collaborative approach to saving the lives of our LGBTQ youth. It briefly summarizes the current status of knowledge regarding suicidal ideation and behaviour among LGBTQ youth, including risk and protective factors and existing programs and initiatives. This Guide is not a comprehensive academic review; rather, it serves as the conference paper for the first LGBTQ Youth Suicide Prevention Summit in Canada, and is designed to assist in the development of concrete recommendations for advancing nation-wide and international work on this subject.

While suicide rates for youth continue to rise, most extant research continues to approach prevention from the individual level focused on risk factors. This study aims to address this issue and contribute to the existing literature by (1) examining suicide and the role of social support as a protective factor through the lens of a socioecological framework, and (2) using an
intersectional approach to determine which youth are most at risk for suicide and how social support may be differentially effective for marginalized youth.

All of these statistics are sourced from Statistics Canada. StatsCan suppresses data points that are less than 5 to ensure confidentiality. Data are collected in April and October and include all deaths investigated by a coroner or medical examiner for the previous calendar year and any amendments to cases already received

What does the current evidence tell us about suicide, and what can be done to prevent suicidal behaviours? Where are the evidence gaps when it comes to fully understanding the complex and often interacting factors that drive individuals to self-harming behaviours, and what are the most appropriate and effective tools to assist them? To help answer these questions, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) commissioned the Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders and Related Disorders to conduct a review of the scientific literature on suicide and suicide prevention as part of MHCC and PHAC’s co-lead initiative aimed at building a shared Canadian research agenda on suicide and its prevention.

Recently, research has reported that the rates of suicide among Black children between the ages of 5 to 12-years-old are increasing as they are now more likely to commit suicide than White children. Yet, there are very few, if any, frameworks being used by researchers to explain the risks of suicide among Black children. Suicide research has overwhelmingly been focused on White youth thus leaving a critical gap in suicide research. This conceptual paper provides an integrated framework using the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide and Intersectionality theory, as a guide for researchers, clinicians, and practitioners to incorporate culturally appropriate techniques in their work as a way to prevent suicide among Black children. This framework highlights racial discrimination, mental health, socioeconomic status, and sexual/gender minority status to be the most preeminent, yet understudied factors leading to suicide risk among Black children in the United States.

Youth involved in child welfare are at elevated risk for suicide, making child welfare staff an optimal audience for suicide prevention training. This study documents perceived staff needs for suicide prevention resources, explores the immediate impact of safeTALK training on suicide prevention knowledge and attitudes, and examines practice patterns six months following safeTALK. Results show an increase in perceived knowledge, preparedness, and self-efficacy, and a decrease in reluctance. Identification and referral behaviors significantly increased at follow-up.

Children whose parent died by suicide are a vulnerable and underserved population. This phenomenon will be described, as well as implications for practice and research. "Double Whammy," a conceptualization of the overall experience of this marginalized group, emerged through two in-depth interviews from a phenomenological qualitative study with professionals who facilitate support groups for children bereaved by parental suicide. It was corroborated with current literature and practice experiences of the authors and their colleagues. Stigma was the largest contributor to the "Double Whammy," and the following themes emerged as well: feeling isolated, feeling abandoned, and feeling responsible. The self-volition of suicide challenges how bereaved children make meaning and internalize feelings about the deceased parent, one's self, and others. Developmentally appropriate education about suicide grief, depression, and normalizing the grief process is pivotal in helping children to effectively cope and manage their feelings.

In the year 2000, the Child Welfare System of Quebec implemented a Provincial Suicide Prevention Protocol. The goal of this Protocol was two-pronged: (a) heightened client safety, security, and treatment; and (b) heightened support to front line staff and better protection against vicarious traumatisation. From the vantage point of a participant-observer, the author uses Batshaw Youth and Family Centres as an example to illustrate the implementation and evolution of this Protocol. More specifically, the aim of this article is to demonstrate the benefits that clients and staff gain from such a Protocol. Further attention will be given to the impact this Protocol has on front line staff and second level team members intervening with suicidal clients, considerations that lessen the risks of vicarious traumatisation, as well as professional burnout. Statistics show there has been a decrease in suicidal gestures and attempts over the past decade following the Protocol's implementation. Finally, the supports and debriefing foreseen in the Protocol are appreciated by staff, and further supports such as clinical consultation, (peer) supervision, and continuing education have been implemented.

Families and clinicians face various daunting tests following a child's death by suicide. Clinical interventions with surviving family members following a child's or adolescent's death by suicide can make a critical difference in the survivors' bereavement and adjustment processes. The authors provide information on current trends in adolescent suicide. Citing from suicide-bereaved parents, the authors describe common themes faced by families following a child's suicide, and provide suggestions for effective interventions with bereaved families.

Suicide among young people has become a growing concern in life in the 21st century and is a tragedy faced by an increasing number of families and in particular parents. This study set out to focus on the experiences of parents reentering the workplace following the death of a child by suicide. Although the immediate aftermath of experiencing traumatic death has been studied, we know less about the longer term effects on life tasks such as returning to work. A sample of bereaved parents was interviewed and their responses thematically analyzed. The three major areas of experience related by parents were social and emotional aspects of readjusting to the workplace, followed by changes in cognitive, emotional, and physical functioning and their changed attitudes toward work and life. Limitations of the study include the transferability of findings to other populations and to less close-knit cultures. The implications for employee adjustment and employers and co-workers' responses are considered. A fuller picture of adjustment might emerge from future studies that seek to document all parties' experiences during this period of transition.

This study documents the initial reliability and validity of the Child Suicide Risk Assessment (CSRA) for children under the age of 13. The revised CSRA retained 18 of 20 original items based on item-specific psychometric data from 140 pre-adolescents in out-of-home treatment programs. The CSRA demonstrated adequate internal consistency (α  =  .69) for a multi-dimensional scale (3 factors: Worsening Depression, Lack of Support, and Death as Escape). CSRA scores correlated significantly with criterion measures of prior suicide attempts and ideations. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve discriminated significantly between prior attempters and non-attempters and was used to select preliminary CSRA cut-off scores for identifying substantial suicide risk. The CSRA is the first screening measure of suicide risk in pre-adolescents validated by associations with suicide attempts as well as ideations.

A team of persons with a lived experience of suicide and researchers jointly developed an online suicide prevention program. This online program addresses the taboo and stigmatized topic of suicidality from the perspective of people with lived experience. In our team are people who tried to take their own lives, thought about suicide, and people who lost a close person by suicide. For the program we wrote texts on suicidality and suicide on a scientific basis. In videos the team shared their experiences with suicide. The team told what helped them to continue living and gave them hope. Online program participants can read these texts and watch these videos. Participants can learn about suicidality and are encouraged to seek help if needed. During the development of the program, the researchers created a working atmosphere characterized by respect, empathy, transparency, and openness. Dealing with suicidality can be emotionally stressful. The team felt comfortable and safe. The team was proud of the developed online program. We describe strengths and weaknesses of the program development. We did not evaluate the involvement during the program development. If one wants to do this, the purpose should be explained to the team. The team should have a say in the design, such as what questions are asked. Our program gained enormously from involvement of people with a lived experience of suicide. Involvement is possible and necessary even with complex and sensitive topics such as suicidality. Antistigma work should involve those affected. Involvement is important to create a credible program.

Peers of individuals at risk for suicide may be able to play important roles in suicide prevention. The aim of the current study is to conduct a scoping review to characterize the breadth of peer‐delivered suicide prevention services and their outcomes to inform future service delivery and research. Articles were selected based on search terms related to peers, suicide, or crisis. After reviews of identified abstracts (N = 2681), selected full‐text articles (N = 286), and additional references (N = 62), a total of 84 articles were retained for the final review sample.

Skills for Safer Living is a 20-week group intervention for people with recurrent suicide attempts. This article details how it pivoted from in-person to virtual groups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns of privacy, client safety, and how to deliver the program virtually are explored, along with lessons learned.

Adolescent perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy) plays a key role in influencing decision-making processes within the context of suicide prevention programming. Guided by Theory of Planned Behavior, models tested attitudinal and social factors predicting adolescent intentions and actual engagement in suicide prevention behaviors. Participants included 233 racially and ethnically diverse high school students (54% female) in a southwestern U.S. school district. Measures included attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, and behavior over follow-up. Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived behavioral control, rather than intentions, was the direct predictor of behaviors. For adolescents, beliefs about effectively utilizing learned suicide prevention behavior may be more important than intentions. The design of suicide prevention efforts should account for this important influence on adolescent decision-making.

In this article, elements from four theoretical frameworks (i.e., Minority Stress Theory, Person-in-Environment and Risk and Resilience Framework, Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide, and Intersectionality) are applied and combined to explain the problem of queer youth suicide through a integrated conceptual model, Queer Prevention of Youth Suicidality Model (Queer-PRYSM). The need for this conceptual model is based on the current state of the literature, including mixed empirical findings on factors related to queer youth suicidality, no scholarly consensus on specific contributing factors regarding high rates of suicidality among queer youth (including queer youth subgroups), and the absence of a unifying theory to explain the queer youth suicide risk.