Suicidal Ideation and Attempts among Youth with Physical-Mental Comorbidity: A Pan-Canadian Study

This project uses data from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey of Children and Youth (CHSCY) to study the intersection of physical illness, mental or neurodevelopmental disorder (MND), and suicide ideation and attempts (suicidality) in youth.

Youth who participated in the CHSCY aged 15-17 years (n=15,670) were asked specific questions about suicidality, in addition to providing other data about their family environment, neighbourhood, and sociodemographics.

Findings will provide estimates of suicidality among youth with physical-MND comorbidity, which will inform intervention planning to prevent suicidality in this understudied, but vulnerable population.

This project will also offer valuable information about barriers to service access for this group of youth. This will inform whether use matches need, identifying opportunities to advise providers and policy makers about upstream resources to prevent suicidality.

This study is funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention