A Narrative Review on the Impact of Teachers' Support in the Prevention of Death by Suicide Among Young People

Background: Death by suicide among young people is a growing issue worldwide. Every year, 46000 children (10-19 years old) take their lives. Lack of social support is one of the causes of suicide in young people. This narrative review aims to highlight the impact of teachers' support in the prevention of death by suicide among young people.

Methods: A literature search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science to find out the relevant studies using the keywords and synonyms of "social support," "young," "suicide," and "teacher." The original articles published in indexed and peer-reviewed English language journals in the last 10 years (2014-2023) were included in this review. The included articles were focused on teachers' support in terms of the prevention of suicide among young people.

Results: After screening the title-abstract and full-text articles, the review findings revealed that support from teachers has a positive impact on the prevention of suicide among young people. Young people who have higher teachers' support show lower suicidal behaviors. Hence, teachers' support acts as a protective factor against suicide in young people.

Conclusion: The review concludes that teachers' support has shown a positive impact on reducing suicidal behaviors among young people. Teachers are important sources of support in understanding suicidal behaviors in young people. Holistic support from each one of us is the enormous need to reduce the number of suicides. Studies have recommended that teachers' support should be the focus of intervention, for example, school-based psychoeducation on young people's suicide.