Jo Robinson

University of Melbourne | MSD · Orygen Centre for Youth Mental Health

Suicide prevention programs delivered in school settings have been shown to reduce suicide attempts and ideation among adolescents. School-based digital interventions targeting at-risk youth are a promising avenue for suicide prevention, and some evidence has shown that blending digital and face-to-face components may improve the effectiveness. How...

Background: In 2016, globally, suicide was the second leading cause of death amongst those aged 15 to 29 years. Self-harm is increasingly common among young people in many countries, particularly among women and girls. The risk of suicide is elevated 30-fold in the year following hospital presentation for self-harm, and those with suicidal ideatio...

Background Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people aged 15–29 worldwide. Young people often present to emergency departments (EDs) with self-harm and suicide-related behaviors. The period following discharge from the ED is recognized as one of elevated risk for both repeated self-harm and suicide. During this critical time,...

Young people may search for, or be exposed to, self-harm and suicide-related content on social media and they sometimes use these platforms to communicate about their own experiences of self-harm and suicide. Preliminary evidence demonstrates exposure to self-harm and suicide-related content online has both protective and harmful effects. However,...

This commentary piece explores the question ‘is social media causing the increase in mental ill-health, self-harm and suicidal ideation in young people and if so, age restrictions are the answer?’ Whilst there is no question that rates of mental ill-health, self-harm and suicidal ideation are increasing in young people, questions certainly remain r...

Background Suicide remains a leading cause of death for young Australians. We need robust analytical tools to help us understand and respond to the dynamic complexity underlying suicide and suicidal behaviour. Participatory systems modelling leverages empirical data together with the experiential knowledge of stakeholders to inform model building,...

Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves on purpose, regardless of the reasons for doing this. Often, shame and stigma stop people from seeking help. Self-harming behaviour increases the risk of death by suicide, and it is a common cause of disability in young people. Currently, people attending health services only represent the tip of the icebe...

Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves on purpose, regardless of the reasons for doing this. Often, shame and stigma stop people from seeking help. Self-harming behaviour increases the risk of death by suicide, and it is a common cause of disability in young people. Currently, people attending health services only represent the tip of the icebe...

BACKGROUND Young people are disproportionately impacted by self-harm and suicide, and concerns exist regarding the role of social media and exposure to unsafe content. Governments and social media companies have taken various approaches to address online safety for young people when it comes to self-harm and suicide, however, little is known about...

Self-harm and suicide ideation are global health concerns, significantly impacting culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations. Emergency departments (EDs) play a role in intervening following such presentations, yet there is limited research focusing on the CALD population's use of these services in Australia. This study aimed to expl...

Background Suicide prevention in education and youth settings requires a multi-faceted approach that provides universal, selective and indicated interventions to address the complex and varied needs of young people. Evidence-based interventions are increasingly preferred by schools, but they must be robust and adaptable across countries and setting...

Young people are disproportionately impacted by self-harm and suicide, and concerns exist regarding the role of social media and exposure to unsafe content. Governments and social media companies have taken various approaches to address online safety for young people when it comes to self-harm and suicide, however, little is known about whether key...

Background Current suicide prevention approaches are not adapted to international student needs, and participatory design is a method that may facilitate the development or adaptation of appropriate programmes for this group. Methods This qualitative study investigated the experiences of international university students studying in Australia who...

Background Rates of self-harm and suicide appear to be increasing in young people and many attribute this to social media use. However, high quality studies examining young people’s experiences of self-harm and suicide-related content on social media, and the impact on wellbeing, are lacking. Methods An online national cross-sectional survey was co...

Background Suicide is the leading cause of death of children and young people under 35 in the UK, and suicide rates are rising in this age group. Schools are considered an appropriate and logical setting for youth suicide prevention activities, with universal, selective, and indicated approaches all demonstrating efficacy. Given that international...

Background Rates of self-harm and suicide are rising for young people globally and many implicate social media in this problem. To address this concern and to increase the confidence of adults to communicate safely about suicide and social media with young people, the #chatsafe Guide for Parents and Carers was developed in Australia. With significa...

For people who seek help for self-harm, emergency departments (ED) are often the first point of contact, making them a suitable setting for intervention. In Australia, base rates of self-harm presentations to ED are increasing, while the quality of care these people receive is often considered sub-optimal. This study used qualitative interviews...

Background: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people aged 15–29 worldwide. Young people often present to emergency departments (EDs) with self-harm and suicide related behaviors. The period following discharge from the ED is recognized as one of elevated risk for both repeated self-harm and suicide. During this critical time,...

Background: Suicide is the leading cause of death of children and young people under 35 in the UK, and suicide rates are rising in this age group. Schools are considered an appropriate and logical setting for youth suicide prevention activities, with universal, selective, and indicated approaches all demonstrating efficacy. Given that international...

International students are a crucial group for suicide prevention efforts. However, no comprehensive review of the prevalence, risk or protective factors for international student suicide has been conducted, complicating prevention efforts. The current systematic review addresses this issue by identifying the prevalence, risk, and protective factor...

Background: Research into youth suicide prevention rarely involves young people with lived and living experiences as collaborators. Key barriers include a lack of guidelines or frameworks to inform collaboration, appropriate ethical approval processes, perceived risk, and recruitment. Aim: To develop guidelines for involving young people with lived...

Background Digital tools have the capacity to complement and enhance clinical care for young people at risk of suicide. Despite the rapid rise of digital tools, their rate of integration into clinical practice remains low. The poor uptake of digital tools may be in part due to the lack of best-practice guidelines for clinicians and services to safe...

Objective The aim of this study was to develop best practice guidelines for preventing suicide and reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviours in LGBTQA+ young people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning, asexual, and those of other diverse sexualities and genders) within clinical and community service settings in Australia. Methods We...

Background Hospital-treated self-harm is common, costly and associated with repeated self-harm and suicide. Providing a comprehensive psychosocial assessment following self-harm is recommended by professional bodies and may improve outcomes. Aims To review the provision of psychosocial assessments after hospital-presenting self-harm and the extent...

There was an error in the original publication [...]

Introduction Concerns exist about the relationship between social media and youth self-harm and suicide. Study aims were to examine the extent to which young people and suicide prevention professionals agreed on: (1) the utility of actions that social media companies currently take in response to self-harm and suicide-related content; and (2) furth...

Background: Hospital-treated self-harm is common, costly, and strongly associated with suicide. Whilst effective psychosocial interventions exist, little is known about what key factors might modify the clinical decision to refer an individual to psychiatric in-and/or outpatient treatment following an episode of hospital-treated self-harm. Methods:...

Research tells us that high-school aged young people experience some of the highest rates of self-harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and many mental health problems emerge during adolescence. We also know that young people are hesitant to seek help for their mental health from formal sources (e.g. GPs or psychologists) and often turn to the...

Introduction: Suicide is a leading cause of mortality among young people aged 15–24 globally. Despite the deployment of comprehensive suicide prevention strategies, we still do not know which interventions, for which groups of young people, for how long and with what intensity could generate the most significant reductions in suicide rates. System...

Introduction Young people use social media to communicate about self-harm and suicide and this is associated with both potential risks and protective effects. The #chatsafe guidelines were originally developed in 2018 to equip young people to communicate safely online about suicide. They were shown to be safe, acceptable, and beneficial; however, t...

Objective: To update our 2018 review with the latest evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent youth suicide and suicide-related behaviour. Method: In keeping with our 2018 review, Embase, PsycInfo, and Medline were searched using relevant key words. Included trials were RCTs evaluating th...

Background: Emergency departments (EDs) are often the first point of contact for people with self-harm; however, they do not always receive optimal care. The study objective was to examine the perspectives of ED staff who respond to self-harm presentations, perceived barriers to providing optimal, guideline-concordant care, and staff's familiarity...

Parents and carers are often some of the most trusted adults in a young person’s life, and are an important source of information and support. For this reason, it is important for parents and carers to have the knowledge and confidence to talk to young people about sensitive topics such as self-harm and suicide. It is also important for parents a...

Background Self-harm behaviour is prevalent among young people and online communication about self-harm is frequent. These online communications are associated with potential harms and potential benefits. To date, few studies have explored the motivations and mechanisms involved in youth online communication about self-harm. Objective This study a...

Background: Young people are more likely to be affected by suicide contagion, and there are concerns about the role social media plays in the development and maintenance of suicide clusters or in facilitating imitative suicidal behavior. However, social media also presents an opportunity to provide real-time and age-appropriate suicide prevention...

#chatsafe is a suicide prevention program that aims to empower and equip young people to communicate safely online about self-harm and suicide. To achieve this aim, in 2018, we developed the world’s first evidence-informed guidelines specifically for young people on communicating safely online about suicide. Following publication, the guidelines we...

A range of evidence-based guidelines have been developed for supporting the involvement of young people in mental health research (5,12-15). However, in suicide research activities, there are currently no evidence-based quidelines on safely and effectively involving young people with lived and living experience of suicide. Given the sensitive and c...

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented profound disruptions to young people at a critical period of psychosocial development. The current study aimed to explore the perceived negative and positive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people's mental health and wellbeing across a spectrum of clinical needs. A cross-sectional online survey includin...

Background: Rates of self-harm and suicide are increasing world-wide, particularly in young females. Emergency departments (EDs) are a common first point-of-contact for young people who self-harm. We examined age- and sex-related differences in: (1) rates of self-harm over an eight-year period; (2) changes in demographic, presentation, and treatme...

International students are at risk of suicide and suicide prevention activities addressing their unique needs are required. However, no comprehensive review has been undertaken to identify effective suicide prevention approaches for international students. The current scoping review aimed to chart the extent, range, and nature of available evidence...

BACKGROUND Young people are more likely to be affected by suicide contagion, and there are concerns about the role social media plays in the development and maintenance of suicide clusters or in facilitating imitative suicidal behavior. However, social media also presents an opportunity to provide real-time and age-appropriate suicide prevention in...

BACKGROUND Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians. One commonly cited explanation is the impact of social media, in particular the ways in which young people use social media to communicate about their own experiences and their exposure to suicide-related content posted by others. Guidelines to assist mainstream media report about...

Background Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians. One commonly cited explanation is the impact of social media, in particular, the ways in which young people use social media to communicate about their own experiences and their exposure to suicide-related content posted by others. Guidelines designed to assist mainstream media to...

Background and aim: Suicide continues to be a major public health challenge in Australia with significant individual, community, and societal impacts. Targeted and timely research efforts are essential to effectively address this challenge in a rapidly changing world. Building on our earlier research priority setting exercise conducted in 2017, the...

Young people experience high rates of suicidal ideation, self-harm, suicide attempt and death due to suicide. As a result of increasing globalisation, young people are increasingly mobile and can migrate from one country to another seeking educational and employment opportunities. With a growing number of young migrants, it is important to understa...

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of populations and highlighted the limitations of mental health care systems. As the trajectory of the pandemic and the economic recovery are still uncertain, decision tools are needed to help evaluate the best interventions to improve mental health outcomes. We developed a system dynamic...

The gatekeeper training of parents is a promising approach for suicide prevention in young people, but little research has addressed the effectiveness of such training, especially using online delivery. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of the delivery of an online suicide prevention training program, LivingWorks Start, to...

Suicide clusters involve an excessive number of suicides, suicide attempts, or both, that occur close in space or time or involve social links between cluster members. Although suicide clusters are rare, evidence documenting the implementation of suicide cluster response activities in communities is required yet remains limited. In this study, we i...

Background Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians, accounting for one-third of all deaths in those under 25. Schools are a logical setting for youth suicide prevention activities, with universal, selective and indicated approaches all demonstrating efficacy. Given that international best practice recommends suicide prevention...

Emergency departments are often the point of entry to the healthcare system for people who self-harm, and these individuals are at high risk of further self-harm and suicide in the post-discharge period. These settings therefore provide a critical opportunity for intervention. However, many studies have identified that the experiences of patients,...

Background Although there are many benefits associated with working in academia, this career path often involves structural and organisational stressors that can be detrimental to wellbeing and increase susceptibility to psychological distress and mental ill health. This exploratory study examines experiences of work-related psychosocial stressors,...

Introduction The existing literature demonstrates that international students face a variety of stressors and barriers that can heighten the risk of suicide. However, up to now, no research has sought to summarise the available literature on the prevention strategies for suicide for international students in tertiary education. This document provid...

Young people may be particularly vulnerable to the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and may also be more likely to use social media at this time. This study aimed to explore young people’s mental health and social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic and examined their use of social media to seek and provide support for suicidal tho...

Social media may play a role in the “contagion” mechanism thought to underpin suicide clusters. Our pilot case-control study presented a novel methodological approach to examining whether Facebook activity following cluster and non-cluster suicides differed. We used a scan statistic to identify suicide cluster cases occurring in spatiotemporal clus...

Objective Accurate identification of self-harm presentations to Emergency Departments (ED) can lead to more timely mental health support, aid in understanding the burden of suicidal intent in a population, and support impact evaluation of public health initiatives related to suicide prevention. Given lack of manual self-harm reporting in ED, we aim...

Regionally-based Australian men have a higher risk of suicide than those in urban centers, with similar trends observed internationally. Adopting a place-based approach to understanding men’s suicide and harm prevention provides contextual insights to guide localised opportunities for the development of tailored gender-specific interventions. Men i...

General Practitioners (GPs) play a crucial role in the identification and support of young people at risk of suicidal behaviour and self-harm; however, no studies have explored GPs’ perspectives, approaches, challenges, and resource needs when working with this cohort in an Australian setting. This was a qualitative study where fifteen GPs (Mage =...

The Human Code is a research project which aims to better understand community attitudes in the Macedon Ranges Shire (the Shire) to outdated masculine stereotypes and their effect on men’s mental health and related behaviours. Orygen undertook the research and it was funded by the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network, as a project of the...

We created the #chatsafe for parents and carers to help the significant adults in a young person’s life feel more confident and better equipped to support their young person to communicate safely online about suicide. This resource provides information on how you can model safe language when talking about suicide, support your young person to commu...

Background Although there are many benefits and privileges associated with working in academia, this career path often involves a range of structural and organisational stressors that can be detrimental to wellbeing and increase susceptibility to mental ill health among academic staff and students. This exploratory study examines experiences of wor...

There is a need for effective and youth-friendly approaches to suicide prevention, and social media presents a unique opportunity to reach young people. Although there is some evidence to support the delivery of population-wide suicide prevention campaigns, little is known about their capacity to change behaviour, particularly among young people an...

Background Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians, accounting for one-third of all deaths in those under 25. Schools are a logical setting for youth suicide prevention activities, with universal, selective and indicated approaches all demonstrating efficacy. Given that international best practice recommends suicide preventio...

Background: Individuals recovering from a suicide attempt may benefit from support provided by informal carers, that is, family members and other support persons, who may require support themselves. Aims: This systematic review aims to identify and synthesize available literature on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for this carer pop...

UNSTRUCTURED Correction to article

Background: Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people in Australia. Media campaigns have the potential to reach a broad audience, change attitudes and behaviours, and, ultimately, help prevent suicide. Little is known about the type of content or format suicide prevention media message should take to help prevent suicide among young...

Background Suicide research aims to contribute to a better understanding of suicidal behaviour and its prevention. However, there are many ethical challenges in this research field, for example, regarding consent and potential risks to participants. While studies to-date have focused on the perspective of the researchers, this study aimed to invest...

Background: Web-based interventions are a promising approach to support youth at risk of suicide, and those incorporating peer-to-peer social networking may have the added potential to target interpersonal states of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. Owing to feasibility and safety concerns, including fear of contagion, this had n...

Many young people who engage in self-harm do not seek help from health services. For those that do, emergency departments (EDs) are a key point of contact. Substantial gaps remain in current knowledge related to young consumers’ experiences and views on optimal treatment of self-harm in the ED. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conduct...

Research is essential for advancing our understanding of suicidal behavior and its prevention, and to offer effective help to those at-risk. However, suicide research entails a range of ethical challenges, which have started to receive some attention. This chapter discusses challenges regarding conducting studies with suicidal people and those bere...