Youth Suicide and Bullying Challenges and Strategies for Prevention and Intervention

High profile media reports of young people committing suicide after experiencing bullying have propelled a national conversation about the nature and scope of this problem and the means to address it. Specialists have long known that involvement in bullying in any capacity (as the victim or as the perpetrator) is associated with higher rates of suicidal ideation and behaviors, but evidence about which bullying subtype is at greatest risk is more mixed. For instance, some studies have shown that the association between suicidal ideation and bullying is stronger for targets of bullying than perpetrators. However, another study found that after controlling for depression, the association was strongest for perpetrators. Similar disagreement persists with regard to gender disparities relating to bullying and self-harm, for instance.

Youth Suicide and Bullying presents an authoritative review of the science demonstrating the links between these two major public health concerns alongside informed discussion and evidence-based recommendations. The volume provides sound, scientifically grounded, and effective advice about bullying and suicide at every level: national, state, and community. Chapters provide details on models of interpersonal aggression; groups at risk for both bullying and suicide (such as sexual minorities); the role of stigma; family, school, and community-based youth bullying and suicide prevention programs, and more. Each chapter concludes with recommendations for mental health providers, educators, and policymakers. Compiling knowledge from the most informed experts and providing authoritative research-based information, this volume supports efforts to better understand and thereby reduce the prevalence of victimization and suicide.

Peter Goldblum, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University, where he is Co-Director of the Multicultural Suicide Research Center and the Center for LGBTQ Evidence-based Applied Research (CLEAR). He received the APA Division 44 Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training Award in 2013.

Dorothy L. Espelage, PhD, is the Edward William Gutgsell and Jane Marr Gutgsell Endowed Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has conducted research on bullying, homophobic name-calling, teen sexual and dating violence, bully prevention programs, and the overlap between various forms of youth violence for 20 years

Joyce Chu, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University, where she co-leads the Multicultural Suicide Research Center and the Ethnic Minority Mental Health Research Group. Her work is focused around depression and suicide in ethnic minority adult and geriatric populations.

Bruce Bongar, PhD, ABPP, is the Calvin Professor of Psychology at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology at Palo Alto University, and Consulting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Bongar's current scholarly and research projects include clinical and legal standards of care in working with the suicidal patient, the investigation and prevention of suicide in active duty military and veteran populations, bullying and suicide, and multicultural approaches to the assessment, management and treatment of the suicidal patient.

Part I. Overview: State of the Science and Current Challenges

1. Facing the Challenges of Preventing Youth Suicide and Bullying
Peter Goldblum, Dorothy L. Espelage, Joyce Chu, Bruce Bongar, Samantha Pflum, and Lisa De La Rue

2. Comment Chapter: Bullying and Suicide Prevention: Taking a Balanced Approach that Is Scientifically Informed
Jeffrey Duong and Catherine P. Bradshaw

Part II. Defining the Problem: Prevalence, Predictors, and Protectors

3. Suicidal Risk as a Function of Bullying and Other Victimization Exposures
Melissa K. Holt

4. Bullying and Mental Health
Amanda B. Nickerson and Toni Orrange Torchia

5. Suicidal Ideation and Bullying: An Ecological Examination of Community Impact
Pamela Orpinas and Arthur M. Horne

6. Psychiatric Models of Bullying Involvement: The Impact of Perceived Psychiatric Illness on Victims, Bullies, and Bully-Victims
Andrew Edmund Slaby and Samantha Pflum

7. Cyberbullying and Suicide: Is There a Link? What are the Roles of Traditional Bullying and the Media?
Sheri Bauman

Part III. Cultural Perspectives

8. The Connection between Bullying and Suicide in Ethnic Minority Populations
Teceta Thomas Tormala, Iulia I. Ivan, Rebecca Floyd, and Leonard C. Beckum

9. Cultural Competence and Prevention Programming
Cynthia Hudley

10. Suicide Ideation Among Sexual Minority Youth: The Effects of Bullying and Possible Protective Factors
Paul Poteat and Ian Rivers

11. Suicide Risk among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth
Rylan J. Testa and Michael L. Hendricks

12. The Relation between Suicidal Ideation and Bullying Victimization in a National Sample of Transgender and Non-Transgender Adolescents
Michele L. Ybarra, Kimberly J. Mitchell, and Joseph Kosciw

Part IV. Explanatory Models

13. Social Psychological Model of Adolescent Suicide
Christopher D. Corona, David A. Jobes, and Alan L. Berman

14. Bullying as a Sociocultural Pathway to Suicide
Joyce Chu, Johnson Ma, Bruce Bongar, and Peter Goldblum

15. Minority Stress and Suicide in Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals
Ilan H. Meyer, David M. Frost, and Sheila Nezhad

Part V. Educational Approaches

16. Bullying, Rejection, and Isolation: Lessons Learned from Classroom Peer Ecology Studies
Handrea Anita Logis and Philip C. Rodkin

17. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Efforts to Address Risks Associated with Suicide and Suicide-Related Behaviors
Susan P. Limber, Jane Riese, Marlene J. Snyder, and Dan Olweus

18. School-Wide Bully Prevention Programs and Social-Emotional Learning Approaches to Preventing Bullying and Peer Victimization
Dorothy L. Espelage, Lisa De La Rue, and Sabina Low

19. Welcoming Schools: LGBT and Gender Inclusive Bullying Prevention in Elementary Schools
Kim Westheimer and Laura Szalacha

20. The LET's CONNECT Intervention: Targeting Social Connectedness, Bullying, and Youth Suicide Risk
Cheryl A. King, Polly Y. Gipson, and Kiel Opperman

Part VI. Public Health Approaches

21. National and State-Level Approaches to Youth Suicide and Bullying Prevention
Dewey Cornell and Roxana Marachi

22. Bullying, Suicide, and the Media
Whitney Bliss, Samantha Pflum, Laura Sciacca, and Peter Goldblum

23. The Mental Health Consequences of Antibullying Policies
Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, Jennifer Hirsch, Richard Parker, Constance Nathanson, and Amy Fairchild

Part VII. Conclusions and Future Directions

24. Comment Chapter: Adapting Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (IPT-A) for Adolescents Who Engage in Bullying Behaviors and Are at Risk for Suicide
Anat Brunstein Klomek and Laura Mufson

25. Developing an Ecological Approach to Address Challenges of Youth Bullying and Suicide: Recommendations for Research, Practice, Policy, and Training
Dorothy L. Espelage, Peter Goldblum, Joyce Chu, Bruce Bongar, Lisa De La Rue, and Samantha Pflum