Humans’ capacity to make sense of their world and anticipate the potential outcomes of actions and interactions is an ability that has ensured our survival. It appears we cannot resist formulating explanations for our own and others conduct which guide our decision making and keep us safe. Unknowingly we engage in a continual process of testing and reformulating our understanding of ourselves and others, supporting our decisions and how we interact.
Practitioners engage in the same process as we attempt to make sense of the mass of data that is presented to us with the request that we help effect change. Articulating and assessing our best hunch about a presenting problem is often referred to as hypothesising. While our hypotheses are inevitably informed by our own life experiences and those of past clients it is crucial that reliable and valid research data also play a strong role in shaping understanding and the advice and guidance we provide. This becomes even more important when we are working with dangerous, frightening and potentially fatal matters, as reference to the data can help us manage our own anxiety and support best decision making.
Adolescent Suicide
One of the most challenging presentations for those who work with families and young people is adolescent suicide. The distress of the family, despair and apparent irrationality of the young person and the terrible consequences that could ensue, all create a powerful emotional vortex into which a practitioner can be drawn. Knowing the facts not only allows balance to be maintained but also points to protective and supportive factors that can be engaged.
The Institute of Family Studies Data
In 2004 the Institute of Family Studies recruited around 5,000 0–1-year-olds and 5,000 4–5-year-olds and their families who have been surveyed on 2 yearly bases in a study known as Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Extensive ‘data was collected on children’s physical, socio-emotional, cognitive and behavioural characteristics, development and linked biomarkers, education, health and welfare data’, and has become a key resource to identify opportunities for early intervention and prevention strategies.
Based on this data we know that 14% of young people aged 18-19 years reported having suicidal ideation, plans, or attempts. As this is the figure in the general population, we know that those attending therapy are likely to have a much higher incidence.
What Can Help?
The data highlights positive directions that may protect a young person and guide a practitioner. A strong sense of belonging at school at 16-17 years old is associated with reduced suicidal thoughts and actions at 18-19 years with 10 fewer cases per 100. This effect is seen in those belonging to high-risk groups ‘with reductions in suicidal thoughts and behaviours at ages 18–19 of 9.4% among young people without prior suicidal history and 14.8% among those with a prior history’. Those with prior suicidal thoughts and actions are particularly protected by strong engagement at school with around 18 fewer cases of ideation, plans or attempts per 100 young people at ages 18–19.
Trusting, communicative and involved relationships with parents at 16 and 17 is associated with lower risk at 18-19 years and effective communication with peers is particularly protective for those with a previous history of suicide attempts.
In Conclusion
Working with young people who have attempted or contemplate suicide is challenging for the most seasoned practitioner. Having clear objective information to guide our practice to encourage positive engagement with school, family and friends can relieve some of the weight of formulating a way forward and supporting its implementation.
Swami, N., Faulkner, A., Slade, T., Vukusic, S. & Hoq, M. (2025). Suicidal thoughts and behaviours in adolescence (Growing Up in Australia Snapshot Series – Issue 14). Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
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