Citation

McMahon EM, Hemming L, Robinson J, Griffin E. Front. Psychiatry 2022; 13: e1120396.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1120396

PMID

36704733

PMCID

PMC9872102

Abstract

Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people worldwide, and a history of prior self-harm is the strongest predictor of subsequent suicide (1, 2). Community-based studies have shown that ~10% of young people have harmed themselves (3), with recent research suggesting an increase in the incidence of self-harm and suicide among this group, especially in children (4, 5). Internationally, young people are facing what has been described as a "rising tide of mental ill-health" (6). Increasing rates of mental disorders have been reported, including anxiety and depressive symptoms and, in some regions, suicide-related outcomes (7-11). Self-harm in young people remains, for the most part, hidden within the community, and so providing timely and targeted interventions remains a key challenge for clinicians and for those working in the broader area of youth mental health. This Research Topic aimed to add to our understanding of the factors underlying suicidal behavior in adolescence, global trends in the incidence of youth self-harm and suicide, and potential mechanisms and modifiable factors which may reduce risk of self-harm and suicide in young people. The 17 published articles broadly represent themes of risk factors and prevalence, service utilization and experiences of suicide and self-harm...

Language: en

Keywords

suicide; young people; self-harm; prevalence; service utilization