After Your Child's Suicide Attempt: An Honest Discussion with Parents and Clinicians

Body of Abstract: Background/Specific Aims. Attempted suicide rates among adolescents remain high – 13.3% of female and 6.6% of male high school students report at least one past year attempt (YRBSS, 2023). Despite concerning attempt rates among youth, few resources exist for parents and/or primary caregivers in navigating the immediate days/weeks following their child’s suicide-related crisis. Additionally, staff in busy emergency departments and psychiatric hospitals frequently lack the time needed to sit with and educate parents following their child’s suicide attempt about their own complex feelings that may have arisen, fears they might be holding, and planning for after care and next steps. A recent study found that parents require support both for themselves and as caregivers for adolescents after their child’s suicide crisis (Weissinger et al., 2023). Recognizing that a child’s suicide attempt can be deeply traumatic for parents, many parents need to hear multiple times about available resources and best practices, as well as follow-up care options. Further, many parents feel isolated and lack a social connection to other parents who have experienced this kind of an event and don’t know where to turn for interpersonal support. Even for families whose child talked about suicide but didn’t make an attempt, this experience can be terrifying and isolative. Parents frequently find tremendous comfort hearing from parents who have “been there” but often don’t know how to find them. A study of parents of youth released from the Emergency Department following a suicide attempt found that parents endorsed high self-efficacy to engage in most suicide prevention activities related to caring for their adolescent, yet they endorsed considerable doubt in being able to keep their child safe if the teen had thoughts of suicide and lacked confidence that they could influence their child’s suicide behavior (Czyz et al., 2018). Parents play a critical role in their child’s follow-up care and recovery, yet they report a lack of confidence on how to do so. There is a dearth of resources currently that supports parents during this tumultuous time.

Methods. Recognizing the need for a resource to better support and educate parents, Parents-to-Parents (PtP), in partnership with the Zero Suicide Institute (ZSI) at the Education Development Center (EDC), set out to create a supportive, educational, documentary-style video in May 2023. Multiple parents who have experienced the suicide attempt of their child and who could offer wisdom and support to parents for whom this is a new and overwhelming experience were interviewed for this film. Several experts in suicidology were also interviewed about what to expect from treatment and care, what best practices exist, and how to advocate to receive best practices. These clinician/researchers dispelled myths, addressed concerns and barriers, and offered solutions to some of the leading questions parents face in the aftermath of their child’s suicide attempt. The video weaves these interviews together in thematically-grouped sections on topics such as validating your own emotions; understanding a suicidal episode; best practices and evidence-based care; accessing treatment; establishing communication with your child; communicating with other individuals and systems (e.g., schools); and caring for yourself.

Results. After an initial version of the film was developed, a series of four focus groups were held – three with parents and one with leaders of professional associations likely to disseminate the resource, to validate the video’s efficacy in achieving its goal of providing a relevant, accessible, relatable, and understandable resource for parents/caregivers. These themes were validated by focus groups participants who suggested additions related to improving the diversity of those depicted in the video and creating a supplemental online portal where additional resources could be housed. These recommendations were incorporated into the video and the video is now free and publicly available here: zerosuicide.edc.org/resources-parents.

Conclusion. Since its release in early August 2024, there have been almost 7500 views of this video, called Parents-to-Parents, After Your Child’s Suicide Attempt. Many viewers had never accessed the Zero Suicide website until now. This video is the sixth most popular resource on the Zero Suicide Toolkit and has received positive feedback from users. Evaluation of the video will continue with an accompanying survey, asking about satisfaction, utility, relevance, and areas for improvement. Many national organizations have promoted this resource on their websites or via other means and viewers have consistently suggested that it is supportive, powerful and different than anything else that exists. A strong dissemination plan has been developed to ensure that parents have easy and immediate access to this film.

This moderated panel conversation will include individuals interviewed for this film -- two clinicians and two parents. The discussion will highlight the questions that frequently emerge from parents and families and the clear, concise, consistent information that parents crave. Further, parents will share their perceptions and experiences of accessing mental health care for their child and what suggestions they have for improvements.

One component of the Zero Suicide framework is “Transition” which refers to transitioning patients through care with warm hand-offs and supportive contacts. This video is a resource providers can share with families as they are discharged from care to educate families and contribute to a supportive transition. Dissemination opportunities for this video will also be explored.