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PolicyLab Study Found Half of Parents are Unaware of Their Adolescents’ Thoughts of Suicide

PolicyLab researchers Jason Jones, PhD, and Rhonda Boyd, PhD, conducted the largest study to date on the lack of parental awareness of teenagers’ suicidal thoughts. In the study, more than 5,000 families participated in interviews in which both adolescents and parents were asked to report on whether the adolescent had ever had thoughts of suicidal ideation. They found that 50 percent of parents were unaware of their adolescents’ thoughts of suicide. This study received a great deal of media attention from outlets such as Huffington Post, AAP News & Journal Gateway, Philly.com, Reuters, MedPage Today and many more. Be sure to check out the media coverage and read Dr. Jones and Dr. Boyd’s blog post for more on the study.