Addressing Youth Suicide: A Matter of Life and Death

Christine B. Cha, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and youth mental health researcher at Yale School of Medicine. She is an associate professor at the Yale Child Study Center and the inaugural core faculty member at the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health.

Read More

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in adolescents and young adults in the United States. One challenge in addressing youth suicide is that suicidal thoughts and behaviors are notoriously difficult to predict and prevent. In the current talk, we delve into the cognitive-affective profile of suicidal youth to better understand who is (vs who is not) at risk. We will share recent research advances that uncover how suicidal youth understand and view death, and importantly, how they perceive their continued future life. The talk will conclude with examples of how cognitive-affective mechanisms identified in earlier work may be promising intervention targets to help mitigate risk early in life.

• Evaluate the youth suicide prevention literature
• Assess life-oriented cognitive-affective processes experienced by suicidal youth
• Integrate risk and protective factors to predict and reduce suicidal ideation early in life

Christine Cha, PhD, has no relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies to disclose.

The Child Mind Institute Visiting Professor Lecture Series invites leaders in the field of child and adolescent mental health to talk about the latest research and treatment protocols. All events are open to the public. Continuing medical education (CME) credits for psychiatrists and continuing education (CE) credits for psychologists and social workers are available to registered course participants. Learn more.