Today’s adolescents and young adults are immersed in digital spaces, with TikTok being the most popular digital platform used by over 63% of the United States’ adolescents & young adults to connect with others through short video clips. In this presentation, Dr. Keyne Law explores TikTok’s influence on mental health and suicidal ideation. It will include exploring participants’ perceptions regarding the positive and negative influences of TikTok on mental health from qualitative interviews. Then, she will present preliminary quantitative findings from the same participant’s TikTok user data, analyzing how their activity on the app, social connections, and engagement relate to suicidal ideation. The presentation concludes with a discussion on methodological challenges and future directions for suicide research and prevention on social media platforms.

Dr. Bagge and Dr. Littlefield present a study which targeted and followed a sample with a pronounced risk of suicidal behaviors: patients who are discharged from a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt. The main aim of the study was to determine whether subgroup membership, characterized by disparate patterns of behavioral warning signs for their suicide attempt, could predict serious suicidal ideation and behavior 12 months post-discharge.

Dr. Lisa Wexler shares learnings from research exploring ways to reduce environmental suicide risk in firearm-owning Alaska Native (AN) households. Discussion will focus on the components and outcomes, which suggest a highly acceptable, practical and potentially impactful intervention.