Youth Suicide: Evidence-Based Clinical and Community Level Prevention Strategies

Youth suicide has received substantial public concern in the last five years. The producers of Netflix’s rendition of 13 Reasons Why received substantial backlash for its graphic depiction of youth suicide. The advent of Facebook Live included multiple youth suicides that were publically viewed. Sadly, two Parkland school shooting survivors took their own lives in the last calendar year. All of these instances correspond to a time in which the youth suicide rate has risen by approximately 30% since 1999 (CDC, 2018). Certainly these data support that youth suicidal thoughts and behaviors warrant attention from providers and policy makers.

This keynote will discuss the considerable momentum gained by the Zero Suicide movement to prevent suicides in healthcare and community settings. Theoretical models of why youth die by suicide that have informed recently developed suicide risk management practices as well as interventions that reduce youth suicide will be discussed. Tips and resources for administering these freely available management procedures and interventions will be provided. Finally, the science behind the differences between suicide in racial majority and minority youth will be presented with a specific focus on how minority stress influences suicide risk and can be reduced through interactions with healthcare providers and community leaders.