Youth suicidality and adverse experiences: assessing the protective role of social support systems

Understanding the interrelationships of school, family and individual risk and protective factors of youth suicidality is critical for the development of effective prevention strategies. This study evaluates the interplay of social support systems, adverse family environments and violence experiences in relation to youth suicidality.

Using data from a national sample (N=20 101, 48.1% female), this study employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess the protective effects of social support systems (eg, adult caretaking, school connectedness) on adverse family environments (eg, parental poor mental health, parental substance abuse), violence experiences (eg, weapon threats, school bullying) and youth suicidality (eg, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt).

Social support at home had a stronger correlation with suicide attempt, while social support at school was more closely correlated with suicidal ideation. Based on the SEM, we observed strong positive correlations between adverse family environments, violence experiences and youth suicidality. However, social support systems not only showed a direct protective effect on youth suicidality (β=-0.19, p<0.001), but also had strong negative correlations with adverse family environments (β=-0.59, p<0.001) and violence experiences (β=-0.30, p<0.001), indicating significant indirect effects from social support systems to suicidality.

The findings of this study highlight the critical role of social support systems in reducing suicidality and mitigating the negative impact of adverse experiences in adolescents. Strengthening social support at home and school should be a key strategy in youth suicide prevention efforts.