Introduction to the PLOS ONE collection on ‘Understanding and preventing suicide: Towards novel and inclusive approaches’

More than 700,000 people lose their lives to suicide each year and evidence suggests that the current COVID-19 pandemic is leading to increases in risk factors for suicide and suicide-related behaviour, in particular among young people. It is widely documented that some sectors of the population are over-represented in the suicide statistics. It is also well established that the pathways that lead someone to a suicidal crisis are complex and differ across regions and sectors of the population; as such a multi-faceted approach to prevention is required. Many of us would also argue that novel approaches, that combine broad population-based strategies with individual interventions, and approaches that capitalise on new technologies and methodologies are also required. For these reasons, when bringing together this collection, we deliberately sought studies that focused upon those groups who are over-represented in the suicide statistics yet under-represented in research. We also called for studies that reported on novel approaches to suicide prevention and for studies that reflected the voices of people with lived experience of suicide, also often unheard in research efforts.

[1]  V. Veloso,et al.  Prevalence and factors associated with suicidal behavior among trans women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , 2021, PloS one.

[2]  S. Rice,et al.  Can a social media intervention improve online communication about suicide? A feasibility study examining the acceptability and potential impact of the #chatsafe campaign , 2021, PloS one.

[3]  David S. Zamar,et al.  The Cedar Project: Relationship between child apprehension and attempted suicide among young Indigenous mothers impacted by substance use in two Canadian cities , 2021, PloS one.

[4]  Seongcheol Kim,et al.  Suicide on YouTube:Factors engaging viewers to a selection of suicide-themed videos , 2021, PloS one.

[5]  Judit Vall Castelló,et al.  The impact of temporary contracts on suicide rates , 2021, PloS one.

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[9]  Hong‐Lin Chen,et al.  Suicide rates among people with serious mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis , 2021, Psychological Medicine.

[10]  S. Every-Palmer,et al.  Occupational exposure to suicide: A review of research on the experiences of mental health professionals and first responders , 2021, PloS one.

[11]  Hee-Seung Yang,et al.  The Werther effect of celebrity suicides: Evidence from South Korea , 2021, PloS one.

[12]  Olivia J. Kirtley,et al.  Suicide trends in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic: an interrupted time-series analysis of preliminary data from 21 countries , 2021, The Lancet Psychiatry.

[13]  Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan,et al.  Characterization of time-variant and time-invariant assessment of suicidality on Reddit using C-SSRS , 2021, PloS one.

[14]  L. Michaud,et al.  Patient perspectives on an intervention after suicide attempt: The need for patient centred and individualized care , 2021, PloS one.

[15]  J. Pirkis,et al.  Trajectories in suicide attempt method lethality over a five-year period: Associations with suicide attempt repetition, all-cause, and suicide mortality , 2021, PloS one.

[16]  A. Guastella,et al.  Predicting self-harm within six months after initial presentation to youth mental health services: A machine learning study , 2020, PloS one.

[17]  A. Mackinnon,et al.  Talking about suicide: An uncontrolled trial of the effects of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health first aid program on knowledge, attitudes and intended and actual assisting actions , 2020, PloS one.

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[32]  Eun-hee Jung,et al.  A Comparative Study of Suicide Rates among 10–19-Year-Olds in 29 OECD Countries , 2018, Psychiatry investigation.

[33]  P. Perrin,et al.  Suicide conversations on Instagram™: contagion or caring? , 2018 .

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