Centre for Youth Mental Health - Research Publications
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ItemCommentary: Adolescent self-harm prevention and intervention in secondary schools: a survey of staff in England and Wales - a reflection on Evans et al. (2019)(WILEY, 2019-09)Self-harm (SH) continues to be a worldwide concern among adolescents and there is a great need for programming aimed at reducing SH in adolescents. Evans and colleagues discuss the opinions of school staff from a representative sample of secondary schools across England and Wales regarding their school's current prevention and intervention practices in responding to self-harm and how this should be addressed in future practice. The most salient points include the high prevalence of SH internationally, the existing barriers to SH prevention and intervention and possible solutions to these barriers. There is clearly an urgent need for high quality, evidence-based interventions that can be embedded in school settings, and have the capacity to overcome both the individual and structural barriers to supporting these vulnerable young people.
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ItemDepression and suicide among medical practitioners in Australia(WILEY, 2018-03)This review will provide an overview of the prevalence of, and risk factors for, depression and suicide in medical practitioners. It will also discuss the barriers to accessing appropriate care and potential interventions for this population.
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ItemStudy protocol: The development of a pilot study employing a randomised controlled design to investigate the feasibility and effects of a peer support program following discharge from a specialist first-episode psychosis treatment centre(BMC, 2010-05-25)BACKGROUND: Young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP) are at risk of a range of negative outcomes. Specialist FEP services have been developed to provide comprehensive, multi-disciplinary treatment. However, these services are often available for a restricted period and the services that young people may be transferred to are less comprehensive. This represents a risk of drop out from treatment services in a group already considered to be at risk of disengagement. Peer support groups have been shown to improve social relationships among people with psychosis however individual peer support programs have not been tested on young people with first-episode psychosis; nor have they been tested at the point of discharge from services. METHODS/DESIGN: The study is an 18-month randomised controlled trial being conducted at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the study is to test the feasibility and effects of a 6-month peer support intervention delivered to young people with FEP over the period of discharge. Participants are young people aged 15-24 who are being discharged from a specialist first-episode psychosis treatment centre. There is a 6-month recruitment period. The intervention comprises two hours of contact per fortnight during which peer support workers can assist participants to engage with their new services, or other social and community activities. Participants will be assessed at baseline and post intervention (6 months). DISCUSSION: This paper describes the development of a randomised-controlled trial which aims to pilot a peer support program among young people who are being discharged from a specialist FEP treatment centre. If effective, the intervention could lead to benefits not only for participants over the discharge period, but for peer support workers as well.
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ItemSocial media and suicide prevention: findings from a stakeholder survey.( 2015-02-25)BACKGROUND: Suicide is a leading cause of death, particularly among young adults. The rapid growth of social media and its heavy use by young adults presents new challenges and opportunities for suicide prevention. Social media sites are commonly used for communicating about suicide-related behavior with others, which raises the possibility of using social media to help prevent suicide. However, the use of social media varies widely between different suicide prevention advocates. The role this type of intervention should play in a community's overall suicide prevention strategy remains a matter of debate. AIM: Explore the ways in which stakeholders use social media for suicide prevention and assess their views about the potential utility of social media as a suicide prevention tool. METHODS: A 12-week stakeholder consultation that involved the online administration and completion of surveys by 10 individuals who conduct research about suicide and social media, 13 organizations that use social media for suicide prevention purposes, and 64 users of social media. RESULTS: Social media was seen as a useful means of delivering a range of suicide prevention activities. Respondents reported that the key benefits of social media were the opportunity to obtain emotional support from others, to express one's feelings, to talk to others with similar problems, and to provide help to others. The social media site believed to hold most potential for delivering suicide prevention activities was Facebook. There were concerns about potential risks of social media, but respondents felt the potential benefits outweighed the risks. CONCLUSIONS: Social media was recognized by different types of stakeholders as holding potential for delivering suicide prevention activities. More research is required to establish the efficacy and safety of potential social media-based interventions and ethical standards and protocols to ensure that such interventions are delivered safely need to be developed and implemented.
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ItemCaring for Young People Who Self-Harm: A Review of Perspectives from Families and Young People(MDPI, 2018-05)Self-harm among young people remains largely stigmatised and misunderstood. Parents have been identified as key facilitators in the help-seeking process, yet they typically report feeling ill-equipped to support the young person in their care. The aim of this review was to examine the perspectives of both young people (aged 12⁻28) and parents and to develop the conceptual framework for a future qualitative study. A systematic search of MEDLINE and PsycINFO was performed to identify articles that focused on the experiences of family members and young people related to managing the discovery of self-harm. Fourteen articles were included for review. Four addressed the perspectives of young people and 10 reported on the impact of adolescent self-harm on parents. The impact of self-harm is substantial and there exists a discrepancy between the most common parental responses and the preferences of young people. In addition, parents are often reluctant to seek help for themselves due to feelings of shame and guilt. This highlights the need for accessible resources that seek to alleviate parents’ distress, influence the strategies implemented to manage the young person’s self-harm behaviour, reduce self-blame of family members, and increase the likelihood of parental help seeking.
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ItemEthical Concerns in Suicide Research: Results of an International Researcher Survey(SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2019-10)Researchers and research ethics committees share a common goal of conducting ethically sound research. However, little is known of researchers' experiences in obtaining ethics approval for suicide-related studies. This study aimed to investigate what concerns researchers have received on suicide-related ethics applications and how they dealt with it. Thirty-four respondents, recruited through the International Association for Suicide Prevention, filled out an online survey. The study found that researchers have received important concerns regarding potential harm and researchers' responsibilities to participants. Researchers modified their application and/or consulted their research ethics committee in response to the concerns, which had a positive/neutral impact on their given study. Anticipating concerns and improved collaboration between researchers and research ethics committees should protect the quality of suicide prevention research.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSupport for people bereaved or affected by suicide and for their careers in Queensland: quality of resources and a classification framework(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2019-07-03)
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ItemClusters of Suicidal Events Among Young People: Do Clusters from One Time Period Predict Later Clusters?(WILEY, 2019-04)We sought to compare clusters of suicidal events between two different time periods and examine the extent to which earlier clusters predict later clusters. We included data on suicides and suicide attempts from New South Wales between July 2001 and June 2012 and Western Australia between January 2000 and December 2011. Suicide attempts included admissions to hospital for deliberate self-harm and suicides were deaths due to deliberate self-harm. We combined data on suicides and suicide attempts and grouped them into two equal time periods. We detected clusters in each period using Poisson discrete scan statistics adjusted for socio-economic status. We estimated the predictive values of earlier clusters on later clusters. The results showed that clusters from earlier time period had a moderate power (36%) in predicting later clusters. During the later time period, some additional cluster areas (14%) were found and some earlier cluster areas subsided (64%). Historical clusters predict 36% of the subsequent clusters, which is probably not sufficient for targeting interventions. Our study highlights the need for other strategies to detect emerging clusters, for example, up-to-date data.
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ItemWhat Works in Youth Suicide Prevention? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis(ELSEVIER, 2018)BACKGROUND: Young people require specific attention when it comes to suicide prevention, however efforts need to be based on robust evidence. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all studies examining the impact of interventions that were specifically designed to reduce suicide-related behavior in young people. FINDINGS: Ninety-nine studies were identified, of which 52 were conducted in clinical settings, 31 in educational or workplace settings, and 15 in community settings. Around half were randomized controlled trials. Large scale interventions delivered in both clinical and educational settings appear to reduce self-harm and suicidal ideation post-intervention, and to a lesser extent at follow-up. In community settings, multi-faceted, place-based approaches seem to have an impact. Study quality was limited. INTERPRETATION: Overall whilst the number and range of studies is encouraging, gaps exist. Few studies were conducted in low-middle income countries or with demographic populations known to be at increased risk. Similarly, there was a lack of studies conducted in primary care, universities and workplaces. However, we identified that specific youth suicide-prevention interventions can reduce self-harm and suicidal ideation; these types of intervention need testing in high-quality studies.
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ItemAre young female suicides increasing? A comparison of sex-specific rates and characteristics of youth suicides in Australia over 2004-2014(BMC, 2019-10-28)BACKGROUND: Australian mortality statistics suggest that young female suicides have increased since 2004 in comparison to young males, a pattern documented across other Western high-income countries. This may indicate a need for more targeted and multifaceted youth suicide prevention efforts. However, sex-based time trends are yet to be tested empirically within a comprehensive Australian sample. The aim of this study was to examine changes over time in sex-based rates and characteristics of all suicides among young people in Australia (2004-2014). METHODS: National Coronial Information System and Australian Bureau of Statistics data provided annual suicide counts and rates for 10-24-year-olds in Australia (2004-2014), stratified by sex, age group, Indigenous status and methods. Negative binomial regressions estimated time trends in population-stratified rates, and multinomial logistic regressions estimated time trends by major suicide methods (i.e., hanging, drug poisoning). RESULTS: Between 2004 and 2014, 3709 young Australians aged 10-24 years died by suicide. Whilst, overall, youth suicide rates did not increase significantly in Australia between 2004 and 2014, there was a significant increase in suicide rates for females (incident rate ratio [IRR] 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01 to 1.06), but not males. Rates were consistently higher among Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander youth, males, and in older (20-24-years) as compared to younger (15-19 years) age groups. Overall, the odds of using hanging as a method of suicide increased over time among both males and females, whilst the odds of using drug-poisoning did not change over this period. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that suicide rates among young females, but not young males, increased over the study period. Patterns were observed in the use of major suicide methods with hanging the most frequently used method among both sexes and more likely among younger and Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander groups. Findings highlight the need to broaden current conceptualizations of youth suicide to one increasingly involving young females, and strengthen the case for a multifaceted prevention approach that capitalize on young females' greater help-seeking propensity.