Impact of Modeling on Adolescent Suicidal Behavior

Exposure to parental mortality and markers of morbidity, and the risks of attempted and completed suicide in offspring: an analysis of sensitive life periods

“…This stronger effect in adolescence and young adulthood may underscore the importance of parental suicidal behaviours as triggering events for non-fatal suicidal behaviour in offspring. Of note, imitation has been discussed as an important factor in suicidal behaviour, particularly among young people 25. A triggering effect may also be reflected in the association of parental non-suicidal death and suicidal behaviour in offspring exposed after the age of 10 years.…”

An Outcome Evaluation of the Sources of Strength Suicide Prevention Program Delivered by Adolescent Peer Leaders in High Schools

“…24,31 Peer suicidal behavior may promote a perceived norm that suicide is a common-place response to distress, and adolescents are more susceptible to suicide imitation than are other age groups. 32 Suicide Objectives. We examined the effectiveness of the Sources of Strength suicide prevention program in enhancing protective factors among peer leaders trained to conduct schoolwide messaging and among the full population of high school students.…”

Mobile Phone Intervention to Reduce Youth Suicide in Rural Communities: Field Test (Preprint)

“…Incoming high schoolers also face greater academic pressures [32], increased emphasis on dating relationships, as well as normal age-related developmental changes that result in mismatches between heightened emotional activation [33][34][35] and executive functions responsible for inhibitory control [36,37]. These mismatches contribute to adolescents' greater susceptibility to suicide-related modeling [38].…”

“…research demonstrating the importance peers play in an array of prosocial and risky adolescent behavior [60,61], including suicidal behavior [38]. Almost all the Text4Strength messages offered participants choices in the content they would receive (e.g., watching a video or answering a question), because individual risk, needs, and access to resources vary, necessitating universal interventions that are "option-rich" [13].…”