News and Updates

An electronic version of YST is being piloted at University of Michigan. This initiative is being led by Dr. Arango and in collaboration with Wei Therapeutics.

The Youth-Nominated Support Team (YST) program is a 3-month program that pairs adolescents, who are being discharged from a healthcare facility after a suicide attempt, with adults (known as support adults) whom the patient selects to become their support network. YST decreases suicide risk by training the support adults to encourage youth to adhere to treatment and make positive behavioral choices. While effective, YST is not readily scalable as it requires significant time commitment from mental health professionals and necessitates engagement and coordination from multiple personnel. The objective of the eYST pilot project is to streamline YST’s operational processes by digitizing components of the YST program with the goal of reducing administrative burden and improving scalability.  Thus, this pilot study has two primary aims: 1) develop eYST, a platform to support more efficient implementation of YST; and 2) test the feasibility and acceptability of eYST in a single-group, open-label trial.

Recent Grants

Lisa Fedina's AFSP grant findings featured by AFSP

Profiles of Poly-Victimization and Suicide Risk among Young Adults was featured in a recent Research Roundup dissemination project. You can find the content here:

Research Roundup - https://afsp.org/story/research-roundup-july-2023-recently-published-findings-from-afsp-funded-studies

Dr. Cheryl King and Dr. Michael Lindsey receive NIMH Funding

Dr. Cheryl King, together with Dr. Michael Lindsey at the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research and Dr. Pamela Morris-Perez of NYU Steinhardt’sARCADIA for Suicide Prevention, have been awarded a NIMH-funded R01 research grant to study the effectiveness of a system of care for Black youth with suicide risk. This system, called WeCARE, combines suicide risk screening with an intervention to help connect at-risk youth to quality mental health services. The study will be implemented at the emergency departments of Harlem Hospital and Kings County Hospital in New York City. This project was developed in response to the needs highlighted in “Ring the Alarm: the Crisis of Black Youth Suicide in America,” a 2019 report released by the Congressional Black Caucus’s Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health.

Congratulations to Dr. Czyz and team on your new project!

Dr. Czyz (PI) together with a team of co-investigators (Drs. Cheryl King, Cynthia Ewell-Foster, Victor Hong, Maureen Walton, and Inbal Nahum-Shani) have received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (R34-MH-124767) to develop an adaptive, text-based intervention for parents of suicidal youth seen in an emergency department (ED). The goal of this three-year study is to conduct a three-arm pilot of a text-based intervention for parents of suicidal youth, which additionally includes an embedded micro-randomized trial (MRT). More broadly, the project aims to address an urgent need for scalable continuity of care strategies for youth at elevated suicide risk and their caregivers post ED care.

The YST intervention was recently cited in an article on "youth-initiated" mentoring

Profiles of Poly-Victimization and Suicide Risk among Young Adults: Violence and trauma are considered important risk factors for suicidal behavior in young adults. However, we need a more complete picture of the types of trauma young adults experience, how such experiences contribute to overall suicide risk, and to what extent these patterns vary across youths' social identities. A national survey with a diverse sample of young adults may help to identify protective factors against suicide that promote resilience among young adults most at risk. 

Congratulations to our team members who will present at IASR/AFSP this year. Works include:  

Sunday, October 27^th

Symposia- Social connectedness and three-month risk for suicide attempts among adolescent emergency department patients. Cheryl King.

Symposia-An examination of a broad list of warning signs for suicide attempts: A multisite investigation. Courtney Bagge. 

Monday, October 28^th

Poster M81- Suicide risk among sexual and gender minority college students: The role of victimization, discrimination, connectedness, and identity affirmation. Danielle Busby, Adam Horwitz, Kai Zheng, Gary Harper, Daniel Eisenberg, Ronald Albucher, Cheryl King.

Oral Presentation - A latent profile analysis of NSSI characteristics and four-month outcomes in emergency department youth. Claire Hatkevich, Ewa Czyz, Adam Horwitz, Johnny Berona, Cheryl King.

Oral Presentation - The quality of life and productivity losses associated with suicide deaths and related bereavement. John Richardson, David Hutton, Lisa Prosser, Daniel Eisenberg, Cheryl King. 

Plenary Session - Opioid, substance abuse, and suicide. Cheryl King, Chair. 

Oral Presentation - Feasibility and acceptability of augmenting safety planning with text-based support among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Ewa Czyz. 

Tuesday, October 29^th

Poster T36 - Sociodemographic differences in barriers to mental health care among a diverse sample of suicidal college students. Adam Horwitz, Danielle Busby, Taylor McGuire, Daniel Eisenberg, Kai Zheng, Jacqueline Pistorello, William Coryell, Ronald Albucher, Cheryl King. 

Poster T61 - Exposure to suicide deaths and attempts among adolescents in the United States. John Richardson, Cheryl King, David Hutton, Lisa Prosser, Daniel Eisenberg.

Symposia - The Youth-Nominated Support Team Intervention for suicidal adolescents. Cheryl King. 

Recent Grants

Jane Harness, D.O.:  American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Grant Award (YIG-0-062-21)

Title: Development and preliminary testing of a "Papageno"-story interview intervention

Major Goals: The primary goals of this project are to create “Papageno” story video interviews of individuals who engaged in preparatory behaviors toward a suicide attempt but did not attempt suicide, and to conduct a pilot study of the impact of these video interviews on viewers’ self-reported reasons for living and hopelessness.

Starting Date:  10/2022

​Adam Horwitz, Ph.D.:  NIMH K23 Award (1K23 MH131761)

Title: Low-burden Adaptive Mobile Interventions for Mood and Suicide Risk

Major Goals: The goal of this career development award is to provide specialized training and

mentorship for the candidate to develop the skills necessary to become an independent

intervention researcher capable of translating the growing advancements of mobile/sensor based

data into low-burden, accessible, adaptive interventions that can be used to help reduce

the societal impact of depression and suicide.

Starting Date: 09/07/2022

Cheryl King, Ph.D., NIMH R01 Grant, Multi-PI with Michael Lindsey & Pamela Morris (NYU)

(R01 MH129786)

Title: Answering the Alarm: A System of Care for Black Youth at Risk for Suicide

Major Goals: The overall project goal is to increase risk identification, treatment referral and

engagement, and, in turn, reduce suicidal ideation and behavior among Black youth.

Starting Date:  07/28/2022

Ewz Czyz, Ph.D.:  NIMH R01 Grant Award (R01 MH126871)

Title: Adaptive intervention to prevent adolescent suicidal behavior following

psychiatric hospitalization: A Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial

Major Goals: (1) Compare the adaptive interventions (AIs) that begin with MI-SP alone or MI-SP plus Texts on suicidal behavior 3 months post discharge, time-to-suicidal behavior and severity of suicidal ideation over 6 months; and (2) Determine the optimal sequence of intervention components.

Starting Date:  09/2021

Ewz Czyz, Ph.D.:  NIMH R34 Grant Award (MH124767)

Title: Developing text-based support for parents of suicidal adolescents after emergency

department visits: A multi-component intervention pilot

Major Goals: This study proposes to develop and pilot an adaptive, technology-augmented (i.e.

text messages) intervention for parents of adolescents at risk for suicide, targeting two

interrelated domains: (1) support parents in promoting the safety and well-being of suicidal

adolescents and (2) provide support and outreach for parents own well-being. The goal of the

intervention is to provide low-cost and accessible continuity of care support for caregivers

following emergency department services to optimize youth outcomes.

Starting Date:  12/2020

Congratulations to our team members who presented at AAS this year. Works included: 

Wednesday, April 24^th

Poster 115 - Text-based support for adolescents following psychiatric hospitalization. Ewa Czyz, Cheryl King, Nate Healy, Maureen Walton.

Poster 116 - Technology-augmented support for families of suicidal adolescents seeking emergency department care. Ewa Czyz, Nate Healy, Cindy Foster, Kimberly McManama O'Brien, Christina Magness, Cheryl King, Corey Jackson.

Poster 119 - Adolescent- and Parent-Reported Warning Signs for Adolescent Suicide Attempts. Alejandra Arango, Taylor McGuire, Polly Gipson, Ewa Czyz, Danielle Busby, Johnny Berona, Alexander Rogers, Victor Hong, Courtney Bagge, Cheryl King.

Poster 131 - Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training in the Child Welfare Workforce: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice Patterns Prior to and Following SafeTALK Training. Eskira Kahsay, Christina Magness, Seth Persky, Patricia Smith, Cindy Foster.

Thursday, April 25^th

Paper 9 - Differences in Characteristics of Veteran and Civilian Suicide Decedents: A Sex-stratified Examination of the National Violent Death Reporting System Adam Horwitz, Dale Smith, Philip Held, Alyson Kay Zalta

Paper 12 - Challenges and Opportunities: Working Across the Spectrum of Suicide Prevention in a Rural Setting.  Sarah Derwin, Cindy Foster, Christina Magness, Patricia Smith, Emily Jo Pratt, Teresa Frankovich

Paper 14 - A Latent Profile Analysis of Chronic Life Stress in Ethno-racially Diverse Inpatient Adolescents. Claire Hatkevich, Francesca Penner, Ryan M Hill, Carla Sharp.

Paper 15 - Examining Barriers to Mental Health Service Use Among Black College Students at Elevated Risk for Suicide Danielle Busby, Kai Zheng, Daniel Eisenberg, Todd Favorite, William Coryell, Jacqueline Pistorello, Ronald Albucher, Cheryl King.

Panel 24 - Expanding our Definition of the Early Career Suicidologist: The Importance of Breaking Down the Silos. Mary LeCloux, Danny Gladden, Laura M. Frey, Polly Gipson.

Friday, April 26^th

Paper 19 - Different Domains of Connectedness and Suicide Risk among Youth Victims of Peer Bullying. Alejandra Arango, Cheryl King, Polly Gipson.

Panel 63 - Understanding Proximal Risk for Suicide Attempts. Cheryl King, Courtney Bagge, Catherine Glenn, Ewa Czyz.

Paper 28 - Depression, Alcohol, Suicidal Ideation, and Suicide Attempts in Sexual and Gender Minority College Students. Adam Horwitz, Johnny Berona, Danielle Busby, Daniel Eisenberg, Kai Zheng, Jacqueline Pistorello, Ronald Albucher, William Coryell, Todd Favorite, Cheryl King.

• Depression on College Campuses (DOCC) One Size Does Not Fit All: Aligning Levels of Care to Student Mental Health Needs: March 13-14, 2019, Ann Arbor, MI. 
• Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Meeting: March 21-23, 2019, Baltimore, MD. 
• American Association of Suicidology (AAS) 52nd Annual Conference: Converging Fields, Expanding Perspectives: April 24-27, 2019, Denver, CO. 
• Association for Psychological Science (APS) 31st APS Annual Convention: May 23-26, 2019, Washington, D.C.
• International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ISRCAP) Nineteenth Biennial Scientific Meeting: June 26-29, 2019, Los Angeles, CA. 
• American Psychological Association (APA) Convention: August 8-11, 2019, Chicago, IL. 
• National Network of Depression Centers (NNDC): September 24-25, 2019, Ann Arbor, MI. 
• American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) 65th Annual Meeting: October 14-19, 2019, Chicago, IL. 
• IASR/AFSP International Summit on Suicide Research: Suicide Prevention Research: A Global Imperative: October 27-30, 2019, Miami, FL. 
• Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) 53rd Annual Convention: November 21-24, 2019, Atlanta, GA.