Abstract
Purpose: The present review summarizes the updated literature on the social aspects of suicidal behavior and prevention in adolescents. Recent findings: The predictive role of psychiatric disorders and past history are well recognized in adolescent suicide, but the role of social and cultural factors is less clear. Studies have focused on the importance of ethnicity, gender, family characteristics, and socioeconomic status. More recently, attention has been addressed to broader social risk factors, such as bullying in adolescents, suicide contagion, sexual orientation, and the popular media. Further empirical evidence is needed to advance our understanding of suicidal youth, develop better assessment tools, and formulate effective prevention and treatment programs. Summary: Suicidal behavior remains an important clinical problem and major cause of death in youth. Social factors may be at least as important as genetics. Advancing our understanding of underlying cultural and sociological issues in youth suicide will help clinicians achieve more efficient prediction, prevention and treatment.
Highlights
Knowledge of the risk factors for suicidal behavior in youth has burgeoned during the past 20 years.Converging evidence points to psychiatric or mental disorders as well as a past history of suicidal behavior as the strongest predictors of suicidal behavior and death by suicide [1]
The present review focuses on recent developments in our understanding of the social and cultural aspects of youth suicide and suicidal behavior and their implications for prevention
We used the definitions of suicide and suicidal behavior suggested by O’Carroll et al [4] and adopted by the Institute of Medicine, as follows: suicide attempt (SA)—a potentially self-injurious behavior with a non-fatal outcome, for which there is evidence that the person intended at some level to kill himself/herself [4]; non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI)—direct, deliberate destruction of body tissue without lethal intention. [5]; suicidal ideation—any self-reported thoughts of engaging in suicide-related behavior [4]
Summary
Knowledge of the risk factors for suicidal behavior in youth has burgeoned during the past 20 years. Given that social contextual factors can significantly impact well-being, they might serve as predictors of suicidal behavior and a basis for formulating preventive measures [2]. The present review focuses on recent developments in our understanding of the social and cultural aspects of youth suicide and suicidal behavior and their implications for prevention. We used the definitions of suicide and suicidal behavior suggested by O’Carroll et al [4] and adopted by the Institute of Medicine, as follows: suicide attempt (SA)—a potentially self-injurious behavior with a non-fatal outcome, for which there is evidence (explicit or implicit) that the person intended at some level to kill himself/herself [4]; non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI)—direct, deliberate destruction of body tissue without lethal intention. NSSI and SA are grouped in this review under the term deliberate self-harm (DSH)
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