Nearly a quarter of high school students know someone who has died by suicide, and half have supported someone experiencing suicidal thoughts, new data from one of the largest ever evaluations of a suicide prevention program in Australia has revealed.
The new research, published in BMC Paediatrics, evaluated the Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS), which was delivered to 1966 students across 21 schools in Melbourne, and found the program improved students’ knowledge and skills to intervene with suicidal peers, and enabled identification of those at risk of suicide.
Lead author and Senior Research Fellow at Orygen, Dr Samuel McKay, said MAPSS is one of the first schools-based suicide prevention program in Australia to take a multimodal approach – meaning multiple elements were delivered together in a targeted way to young people, teachers and other school staff.
“We combined three evidence-based elements, including suicide alertness training, screening for suicidal ideation, and an online cognitive behavioural therapy intervention to explore how these different approaches could work together to support young people,” Dr McKay said.
“We uncovered concerningly high rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among students – and while 50% said they’d supported someone dealing with suicidal thoughts, only 2% had any kind of training to deal with this.
“This tells us how important school settings are for educating young people about suicide, how to respond to suicide concerns, and importantly where to get help if they need it.”
Dr McKay said the findings demonstrated how important the systematic screening element of MAPSS was, as it could identify risk that standard school processes might miss.
“Screening revealed that 37 per cent of students experienced suicidal ideation in the past month, and almost 10 per cent were identified as high risk,” Dr McKay said.
"We also found that of those identified as at risk, almost 15 per cent had not previously sought help – and in most cases school wellbeing teams were unaware of the students’ suicide risk.
“This is not about blaming overstretched school systems – but shows how vital it is to have integrated, properly resourced suicide prevention and screening programs embedded and supported in schools.”
Head of Suicide Prevention Research at Orygen Professor Jo Robinson, said the MAPSS evaluation offered a positive way forward for suicide prevention programs in schools, showing clearly what works and why it matters.
“We know that suicide is the leading cause of death in young Australians, and that suicidal thoughts and behaviours – including self-harm – are associated with an increased risk of future suicide attempts,” Professor Robinson said.
“That’s why early intervention is so important – and why reaching young people in schools, where they spend much of their time, offers a vital opportunity to provide targeted, youth-focused support that can meaningfully reduce suicide risk.
“These findings show that brief, universal training can enhance students’ confidence and ability to respond to suicidal peers, and that systematic screening can successfully identify students experiencing suicidal ideation who may not otherwise seek help.
“Embedding approaches such as MAPSS within school systems can achieve meaningful and sustained impact – and this is what our young people urgently need and deserve.”
The evaluation of MAPSS was led by Orygen in partnership with the University of Melbourne, Lifeline and LivingWorks Australia.