Youth Suicide

As rates of suicide increase among youths, understanding key risk and protective factors, identifying youths at risk, assessing the acuity of this risk, and utilizing interventions to mitigate it are important skills for clinicians involved in youth mental health care.

In the setting of the current youth mental health crisis and increasing rates of suicide, detecting suicide risk and intervening to prevent it is crucial. Factors that confer an elevated risk of suicide attempts and death by suicide include past suicide attempts, nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior, psychiatric disorders, gender and sexual minority identity, family history, history of trauma and loss, bullying, a lack of connectedness, and access to lethal means. Proper screening, assessment, and crisis planning may help save lives and reverse the trend of increasing youth suicide rates.