Social Exposure to Suicide Attempts Linked to Higher Youth Suicide Risk, Suggests Study
USA: A cohort study of adolescents and young adults found that exposure to suicide attempts within their social network was associated with a higher risk of subsequently attempting suicide and with increasing depressive symptoms over time.
The findings suggest that recent exposure to a suicide attempt should be assessed alongside traditional symptom-based screening, as it may identify young people at elevated suicide risk who might otherwise be missed.
Published in JAMA Network Open by Kimberly J. Mitchell of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, Victoria Banyard of the School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues, the study examined whether suicide attempts occurring among people in a young person’s social network could predict subsequent suicide-related outcomes.
Researchers analyzed data from Project Lift Up, a national longitudinal study involving US adolescents and young adults aged 13 to 22 years. Participants were recruited through social media between June 2022 and October 2023 and completed assessments at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months. The analysis focused on 2,098 participants who had never attempted suicide before entering the study.
Participants reported whether someone in their social network had attempted suicide during the follow-up period. The researchers then assessed the occurrence of new suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and changes in depressive symptoms, while accounting for demographic characteristics, social network size, and depression.
Key Findings:
- The study included 2,098 adolescents and young adults, with a mean age of 17.53 years; 60% were assigned female sex at birth.
- Exposure to a suicide attempt within a participant’s social network was associated with significantly higher odds of subsequently attempting suicide.
- Participants exposed to a suicide attempt had 2.78 times higher odds of making a first suicide attempt during follow-up.
- After adjusting for depressive symptoms, the association remained significant, with exposed participants showing 2.43 times higher odds of a subsequent suicide attempt.
- Exposure to a suicide attempt was not significantly associated with the onset of suicidal ideation.
- However, such exposure was linked to increasing depressive symptoms over time, both within individuals and across participants.
- Larger in-person social networks were associated with fewer depressive symptoms, although network size alone should not be considered a direct measure of social support or relationship quality.
The study had several limitations, including reliance on self-reported data, which may be subject to recall and reporting bias. Exposure to suicide attempts was assessed using a single measure that did not capture the relationship, timing, circumstances, or mode of exposure. The observational design limits causal interpretation, while unmeasured confounding and participant dropout may have introduced bias.
Overall, the findings suggest that social network exposure may contribute to suicide risk in adolescents and young adults. Assessing recent exposure to suicide attempts alongside conventional symptom-based screening may help identify young people at elevated risk who might otherwise be overlooked.
Reference:
Mitchell KJ, Banyard V. Suicide Risk After Social Network Exposure to Suicide Attempts in Adolescents and Young Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(8):e2630409. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.30409
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