Loading...
Review: Adolescents’ perspectives on and experiences with post-primary school-based suicide prevention as end-users, co-creators and peer helpers – a systematic review meta-ethnography
Date
2025-11-05
Abstract
Background: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in adolescents globally. Post-primary school-based suicide prevention (PSSP) interventions are an evidence-based suicide prevention strategy. However, adolescents’ experiences with PSSP interventions are not well understood but are arguably critical to ensuring PSSP interventions have their intended impacts on adolescent mental health. No known review synthesising adolescents’ PSSP intervention experiences exists. The objective of the meta-ethnography review is to explore the perspectives and experiences of adolescents engaging with PSSP interventions, as participants/end-users, intervention advisors, facilitators, co-designers and co-researchers. Method: A peer-reviewed meta-ethnography protocol has been published. The meta-ethnographic approach followed Noblit and Hare’s seven-stage process for conducting meta-ethnography and adhered to the eMERGe reporting and the PRISMA statement guidelines. Searches of nine databases identified journal articles and dissertations. Study quality appraisal was undertaken in duplicate using the CASP checklist. Results: Sixteen journal articles and dissertations were retained for analysis. Adolescents were engaged in PSSP interventions as end-users, co-creators and peer helpers. Reciprocal translations and lines of argument (LOA) synthesis reveal the importance of the following aspects of engaging with PSSP interventions: (1) how adolescents were engaged; (2) trust in facilitators, peers, school personnel and schools; and (3) personal experience sharing for connection and engagement. Our findings demonstrate the intersection between school contexts and adolescents’ experiences with PSSP interventions. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first review to synthesise qualitative findings of adolescents’ experiences with engaging with PSSP interventions. Understanding and harnessing adolescents’ perspectives is key for enhancing PSSP intervention effectiveness and implementation. Our findings are relevant to broader health-related fields and practice, particularly given the increasing calls for youth voice.
Supervisor
Description
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Citation
Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Files
Loading...
Walsh_2025_Review.pdf
Adobe PDF, 464.5 KB
Funding code
Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
External Link
Type
Article
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/