Suicide in young people: screening, risk assessment, and intervention

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people worldwide and the third leading cause of death among those in the US. This review outlines the epidemiology of suicide and suicidal behavior in young people. It discusses intersectionality as an emerging framework to guide research on prevention of suicide in young people and highlights several clinical and community settings that are prime targets for implementation of effective treatment programs and interventions aimed at rapidly reducing the suicide rate in young people. It provides an overview of current approaches to screening and assessment of suicide risk in young people and the commonly used screening tools and assessment measures. It discusses universal, selective, and indicated evidence based suicide focused interventions and highlights components of psychosocial interventions with the strongest evidence for reducing risk. Finally, the review discusses suicide prevention strategies in community settings and considers future research directions and questions challenging the field.

Automated summary

Suicide ranks as the fourth and third leading cause of death among young people worldwide and in the US respectively. This review provides an overview of the epidemiology of youth suicide and suicidal behavior, explores the emerging framework of intersectionality in research on suicide prevention, introduces various clinical and community settings as potential targets for effective treatment programs and interventions to rapidly reduce the suicide rate. It also discusses screening and assessment methods for suicide risk, evidence-based interventions, and strategies for suicide prevention in community settings, as well as identifies future research directions and challenges in the field.