Public report offers school-based strategies to prevent suicide

Irsay faculty leader Dr. Anna Mueller (Sociology), along with collaborators including Irsay Fellow Robert Gallagher and others, issued a public report recently on results from their four-year study of a high school community, specifically examining approaches to youth suicide prevention in schools and communities. Extensive fieldwork, over 280 interviews with staff, students, parents, and community mental health providers, and surveys with staff and families informed their report and recommendations.

The Social Worlds & Youth Well-Being Study examines the impact of social environments on youth’s mental health and resilience to identify strategies for improving youth suicide prevention in schools and communities. This study is guided by two primary research questions: (1) How can we build strong and enduring cultures of belonging that encourage effective help-seeking among youth?; and (2) How can we build better mental health safety systems in schools and communities to help youth who are struggling and to improve suicide prevention? This study grew out of a shared desire between the Western Slope Public School District (WSPSD) (a pseudonym) and the research team to identify new, sustainable, effective, and equitable strategies to improve suicide prevention in schools and their communities. This executive summary presents our main findings from the study in an abridged format. Methodology This report presents results from interview, fieldwork, and survey data collected between August 2019-September 2023. Combined, this data represents 281 interviews with youth, school staff, parents, and community mental health providers; 36 months of fieldwork in schools and at school and community events; and two different surveys, one with WSPSD families (with 701 family respondents) and one with WSPSD school staff (with 568 staff respondents). Notably, the data collected for this research make it clear that each school in the district is filled with adults who are concerned about their students’ well-being. School staff care about being trusted adults and about preventing suicide. Outside of school, district personnel and local families also had strong desires for schools to help keep youth happy and safe.

You can read the entire report here: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/pcmhs