Youth psychiatrically hospitalized for suicidality: Changes in familial structure, exposure to familial trauma, family conflict, and parental instability as precipitating factors

In the US, youth experiencing suicidality are often placed in involuntary inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Though some research has been conducted on the treatment effectiveness and short-and long-term outcomes of children following discharge from psychiatric hospitals, it remains unknown how hospitalized youth attribute precipitating factors for their hospitalizations. In the current study, we conducted a thematic analysis of clinical transcripts from therapy session notes, psychosocial assessments, and psychiatric evaluations that comprised 220 patients' psychiatric medical records to gain insights into youth's perspectives on the life events that precipitated their crises. We identified four main precipitating factors: changes in familial structure, exposure to familial trauma, family conflict, and parental instability, each of which highlights the role of high-risk familial conditions in the development, persistence, and deterioration of mental illness among youth leading to suicidality. The ways in which the overlap and accumulation of these themes jeopardize youth's mental health conditions are discussed, in addition to an exploration of clinical implications and treatment recommendations.