Communicating distress: suicide threats/gestures among clinical and community youth.
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Date
2023-08-01
Open Access Location
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Nature
Rights
(c) 2022 The Author/s
CC BY 4.0
CC BY 4.0
Abstract
Although self-injurious thoughts and behaviors are a global health concern, little is known about suicidal threat/gesture(s) where a person leads others to believe they want to end their lives when they have no intention to do so. This study assessed the lifetime prevalence of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors among both community adolescents (nā=ā1117) and in clinical youth (nā=ā191). Suicide threats/gestures were common among youth; 12.2% of community adolescents and 18.0% of clinical youth reporting having made a suicide threat/gesture, most commonly in the context of other self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Across both samples, suicide threats/gestures were not uniquely associated with suicide attempts, and youth who reported suicide threats/gestures in the context of a history of self-harm or suicide plan(s) were no more likely to report a history of suicide attempt(s). Suicide threats/gestures were distinguished from suicide attempts in that they primarily fulfilled positive social functions, rather than autonomic functions. Findings suggest that suicidal threats/gestures are common in both community and clinical youth, and are not uniquely associated with suicide attempts, but rather function to communicate distress to others.
Description
Keywords
Adolescence, Non-suicidal self-injury, Self-harm, Suicidal behavior, Suicide gesture, Suicide threat, Humans, Adolescent, Suicide, Attempted, Gestures, Suicidal Ideation, Self-Injurious Behavior, Prevalence, Risk Factors
Citation
Robinson K, Scharinger C, Brown RC, Plener PL. (2023). Communicating distress: suicide threats/gestures among clinical and community youth.. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 32. 8. (pp. 1497-1506).