Suicidal Behaviour in Young People: Contemporary Understanding of Adolescents and Young Adults in Distress
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 3717
Special Issue Editor
Interests: public mental health; suicidal behaviour; risk groups; mental health professionals; gatekeeper education; qualitative research; mindfulness
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Suicide is among the leading causes of death among young people, while the estimates of the rates of non-fatal suicidal behaviour among this age group are a further clear indicator of the large extent of this public health issue. Mental health problems, as one of the key risk factors for suicidal behaviour, typically have their onset at a young age. Further on, emotional, cognitive and behavioural coping patterns obtained in the early developmental periods usually form the basis for individual’s functioning in adulthood. Therefore, tailored interventions implemented with adolescents and young adults have great potential to contribute to this population’s mental health, and consequently to their productive participation in the society.
In order to provide effective interventions, we first need an in-depth understanding of the issue. What are the current trends in the suicide rates of adolescents and young adults? Which factors are they related to? Common risk and protective factors are well known. However, the world around us is ever-changing, and young people today might be facing additional challenges that are unknown to previous generations. Therefore, the impacts of individual factors may also be somewhat different than just a few years ago. How could further knowledge about these issues contribute to the development of interventions on different levels (e.g., ensuring responsible media reporting, working with communities, educating gatekeepers, implementing workshops with the youth, reducing access to suicide means)? What can we do to better understand the immense psychological pain leading to suicidal thoughts and behaviour in young people living in contemporary societies? In which ways can we offer more effective help to those who find themselves in such distress? Finally, how, precisely, do we even define and assess suicidality?
The goal of this Special Issue is to shed light on these and related questions. We invite original contributions which fill the knowledge gaps in the field, summarise and synthetize the available knowledge, and deepen the understanding of the related issues. In order to advance the field, it is crucial to link theoretical bases with empirical findings, and to place a general understanding of the issue into the context of the present-day challenges. Let us work together with the aim of upgrading the knowledge in order to ensure effective suicide prevention in practice!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Dr. Tina Podlogar
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- suicidality
- suicide prevention
- mental health promotion
- mental health services
- public health
- adolescents
- young adults
- media reporting
- gatekeepers
- access to means
