Supporting Adolescents Bereaved by Sibling Suicide: A Review of Needs, Gaps, and Opportunities

Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents. However, while there is a growing focus on suicide prevention efforts, there has been very little research on how to support young people bereaved by suicide, particularly adolescent siblings. Given the impact of suicide on the entire family, as well as the increased risk of mental health problems and suicidal behaviors during adolescence, we sought to review the current literature through a family systems lens to identify what is known, current gaps, and needs for future work to be able to better support adolescents bereaved by sibling suicide.

Overall, very few studies have examined the impact of sibling suicide on adolescents, and even fewer examine interventions for adolescents who have lost a sibling to suicide.

Findings highlight a critical need for more work focused on developing and rigorously evaluating interventions for adolescents bereaved by sibling suicide. Additional program development and research in this area is critical to improve long term outcomes for adolescents and their families, and to ultimately reduce suicide risk among surviving adolescent siblings.