Does community-based suicide prevention decrease suicide attempts? Strategies for reaching zero suicide

摘要

This study advances work on suicide prevention and intervention implementation/dissemination research. Rigorous suicide prevention research is critically needed, as suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in the USA. The Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Memorial Youth Suicide Prevention Programme is a US federal initiative that by June 2014 funded multiple community-based suicide prevention programmes across the USA (49 states, 48 tribes). This study examines the impact of the GLS programme on non-fatal suicide attempts (SAs), by comparing SA rates over time in counties that implemented GLS-funded trainings and matched counties without GLS trainings. The study expands on a prior study supporting the effectiveness of GLS programmes for reducing suicide deaths. Demonstration that GLS programmes are associated with reduced suicide deaths and SAs, a major risk factor for suicide death, would provide compelling evidence that GLS programmes prevent suicides.