Hailey Prokop
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Lindsay Bornheimer
Research Mentor School/College/Department: / Social Work
Program:
Authors: Hailey Prokop, Nick Brdar, Lindsay Bornheimer
Session: Session 1: 9:00 am – 9:50 am
Poster: 61
Abstract
Suicide is among the top leading causes of death globally, and is ranked as the second leading cause of death among the age group 10-24 years. Individuals within these transitional ages are often faced with unique challenges and may be at greater risk for suicide ideation and attempt. Fewer studies have examined the impact of family stability on suicide ideation and attempt among individuals within these transitional ages. The current study seeks to identify specific risk, protective, and precipitating factors among this age group in order to prevent suicide and improve suicide risk assessment efforts. Data was collected through Electronic Medical Records for patients who presented at Michigan Medicine after making a suicide attempt. These patients included individuals who ranged between ages 14 to 29 at the time of their arrival to the emergency department. Analysis was performed using SPSS28 to explore bivariate relationships between suicide attempt and life stability, which include demographic characteristics (living arrangements), protective factors (social support, family cohesion, etc), risk factors (strained parent-child relationship, relationship problems, etc), and precipitating factors (family, social life). Overall, we found that the protective factors, social support and family cohesion, were significantly more common among participants living with both parents compared to a separated household. In addition, the precipitating factor, parent-child strained relationship, was also found to be significantly more among participants under a two parent household. Increasing understanding of suicide risk, protective, and precipitating factors as it relates to family stability can lead to early interventions with people suffering from suicidal ideation. Future research is greatly needed to increase understandings of risk and protection for suicide in relation to one’s family and living dynamic.
