Suicide Prevention in Youth

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review presents new research pertinent to youth suicide prevention with a focus on suicide risk screening; therapeutic interventions, including Crisis Lifeline services; the identification of proximal risk or warning signs; and guidelines for youth discussions of suicide-related concerns on social media.

Recent findings: Universal screening for youth suicide risk is feasible in healthcare settings, identifies previously unrecognized risk, and has sufficient sensitivity and specificity for the prediction of suicide attempts. Recent large scale intervention trials have neither identified new effective treatments nor ways to make current treatments more effective. In other recent studies, however, youth and parents have independently identified suicidal communications, withdrawal from people and/or usual activities, and sleep problems as acute warning signs. Universal screening for youth suicide risk is recommended in healthcare settings. It identifies previously unrecognized risk at a reasonable cost. Regarding therapeutic interventions, additional research is needed to identify subgroups of youth that may benefit from specific interventions and to personalize these interventions for improved effectiveness in a way that is feasible and scalable in real world settings. Finally, research has identified acute or proximal warning signs for adolescent suicide attempts, and widescale dissemination of this information is recommended..

Keywords: Adolescent suicide risk; Social media; Suicidal ideation; Suicide attempt warning signs; Suicide risk screening; Therapeutic interventions.

Fig. 1

Trends in the age-adjusted suicide rate for youth, ages 10–19, by sex (2001 to 2022). Produced by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) via the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), December 2024. Available from URL: www.wisqars.cdc.gov