Citation

Bettis A. Brown Univ. Child Adolesc. Behav. Lett. 2020; 36(2): 8.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/cbl.30443

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide is currently the second-leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults (ages 10-24) in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). All the more concerning, this marks a rise in rates of suicide death in this age group over the past decade; while rates were stable from 2000 to 2007, the following decade marked a significant rise (56% increase). In addition, emergency service utilization for suicide and self-injury has nearly doubled in the past decade (Plemmons et al., 2018), and rates of suicidal thoughts and nonsuicidal self-injury are high among adolescents. Further, many youth who report elevated mental health problems, including suicidality, self-harm, and depression, do not access mental health services. While suicide rates remain a concern, recent data show that Rhode Island's rates of suicide are the lowest in the country for the second year in a row (United Health Foundation, 2019). Just five years ago, Rhode Island was 16 positions lower on the list. Within that time, clinicians and researchers at Bradley Hospital have worked to decrease these rates with targeted suicide prevention programs.

Language: en