Self-Harm in Adolescents: Efforts Towards the Aspirational Goal of “Zero Suicide”
This presentation will review a program of research aimed at moving towards the aspirational goal of “zero suicide.” Research on understanding and treating suicidal and self-harm tendencies will be reviewed. The emphasis is on studies evaluating: an emergency intervention for reducing suicide risk among youths presenting to the Emergency Department with suicidal behavior; a dialectical-behavior therapy informed cognitive-behavioral and family treatment for youths with recent self-harm; and a randomized controlled trial of dialectical behavior therapy for highly suicidal self-harming youths. New research focused on integrating state of the art suicide prevention services for high risk youths within a health system as well as efforts to improve care nationally in the United States will also be discussed.