Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

This presentation focuses on suicide risk and prevention among immigrant-origin youth and their families. Suicide is the 2^nd leading cause of death among U.S. 10-14 year-olds and 3^rd leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds.  Family-focused interventions have been identified as a promising approach to reducing suicide risk. Youth from immigrant families, who comprise over a quarter of the US youth population but face substantial barriers to mental health service access, may particularly benefit from these approaches. In this presentation, the development of brief family-based preventive interventions for Latinx immigrant-origin youth experiencing suicidal ideation and behavior will be used to illustrate key principles and dilemmas in culturally and contextually-relevant suicide prevention. These findings will be linked to a broader discussion of approaches to bridging clinical, family, and social/community contexts for immigrant adolescents via multilevel interventions.  Both research and clinical practice implications will be addressed.