A comprehensive Australian study examining the global impact of suicide prevention approaches in young people has found that youth-specific interventions conducted in clinical, educational and community settings can be effective in reducing suicide-related behaviour in young people at risk.

The review, by researchers at Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, has been published this week in the UK journal E Clinical Medicine.

The comprehensive review examined 99 individual studies of which 52 were conducted in clinical settings, 31 in educational or workplace settings, and 15 in community settings, and found interventions delivered in these settings appeared to reduce self-harm and suicidal thinking in young people.

Large school-based studies showed that the interventions with the most promise for suicide prevention were integrated approaches, in particular those that combined educational workshops about suicide prevention with case detection designed to identify young people at risk.

In community settings it was also large-scale studies that combined a number of components that showed the most promise. Again, these typically included universal educational programs, training those who come into contact with at risk young people, screening for risk, and linking people to services, where appropriate.

– Orygen

Read more: Pessimism Around Youth Suicide Prevention Approaches is Unfounded, Study Shows

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