Suicidal behaviors in youth with foster care experience

Youth with foster care experience are more likely than their peers outside of the system to report child maltreatment, mental illness, and inadequate social support. The interaction of these experiences likely contributes to the fact that these youth are twice as likely to engage in suicidal ideation and three times as likely to attempt suicide than their same-age peers in comparison populations (Evans et al., Children and Youth Services Review 82:122-129, 2017). Each of these adverse experiences maps onto the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior (IPTS; Joiner, Why people die by suicide. Harvard University Press, 2005), enabling greater insight into the potential mechanisms at work and targets of assessment and intervention. The need to investigate the effectiveness of promising interventions specifically with youth in foster care is clear and immediate. Further research in this area would help us to cultivate a better understanding of protection for these youth and, more importantly, reduce the likelihood that youth with foster care experience will feel the need to end their lives.