Association Between School Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Education Policies and Adolescent Suicide Attempts
Abstract
In the past ten years, the intensity and complexity of declining mental health has been on the rise among high school students. This increasing trend may impact the rates at which students consider or even attempt suicide. In 2019, 10,520 of high school students in the United States reported attempting suicide out of which 8,749 (83.2%) needed medical attention. The current ecological study investigates the association between state-level mental and emotional health education and suicide prevention education policies to suicide attempts among high school students. Secondary data collected from the CDC’s Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance System (YRBSS) and National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) will be used in this analysis. Data from 2019 included state-level rates for selfreported suicide attempts. State-level education policies will be coded as “policy addressed” or “policy not addressed” for mental and emotional health education as well as suicide prevention education. Three sets of odds ratios will be calculated to measure the strength of association between suicide attempt (yes/no) and presence/ absence of 1) mental and emotional health education, 2) suicide prevention education, or 3) both. The anticipated results of this study have implications on the effectiveness of suicide prevention policies and may help us gain a deeper understanding of how school policies impact student behavior.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Christi M. Navarro
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-5-2023 12:00 PM
End Date
4-6-2023 4:00 PM
Association Between School Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Education Policies and Adolescent Suicide Attempts
Alvin Sherman Library
In the past ten years, the intensity and complexity of declining mental health has been on the rise among high school students. This increasing trend may impact the rates at which students consider or even attempt suicide. In 2019, 10,520 of high school students in the United States reported attempting suicide out of which 8,749 (83.2%) needed medical attention. The current ecological study investigates the association between state-level mental and emotional health education and suicide prevention education policies to suicide attempts among high school students. Secondary data collected from the CDC’s Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance System (YRBSS) and National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) will be used in this analysis. Data from 2019 included state-level rates for selfreported suicide attempts. State-level education policies will be coded as “policy addressed” or “policy not addressed” for mental and emotional health education as well as suicide prevention education. Three sets of odds ratios will be calculated to measure the strength of association between suicide attempt (yes/no) and presence/ absence of 1) mental and emotional health education, 2) suicide prevention education, or 3) both. The anticipated results of this study have implications on the effectiveness of suicide prevention policies and may help us gain a deeper understanding of how school policies impact student behavior.
