Enhancing Parent Support During Emergency Department Visits for Suicidal Adolescents.
Demee Rheinberger, Fiona Shand, Nancy E Briggs and 2 others
PMID 40905404WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of adolescents presenting to an ED in suicide crisis overwhelmingly wanted help caring for their child after discharge, especially talking with ED staff.
Only 25.2% received information about caring for the child after discharge, and many rated support poor.
Key findings
0190.2% of parents preferred adolescent-focused support rather than parent-focused support, and parents of younger adolescents were more likely to make this choice.
02The most wanted ED support was a conversation with ED staff about how to care for the adolescent after discharge; 68.7% endorsed it and 83.9% of those who endorsed it ranked it in their top three most important supports.
03Support was often absent or poorly rated: 23.9% received no support, 25.2% received information about caring for the adolescent after discharge, and 46.0% rated support for their child poor or terrible.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was recruited online and was mostly female, biological parents, and had postgraduate education, so it may not represent fathers, adoptive parents, step-parents, foster parents, grandparents, or parents with lower education. Parents reported on ED visits that happened between June 2018 and December 2023, so recall may be imperfect and recent ED practice may differ. ED attendance was not verified, EDs were not reported, and visit length or leaving before assessment was not collected, so missing support may reflect incomplete capture rather than ED practice. No ED staff were involved, so supports provided by staff may have been missed or misremembered. The main preference question forced parents to choose between adolescent-focused and parent-focused support, so the low parent-focused preference may not mean parents did not want any support for themselves. Incomplete surveys were treated as withdrawals, so the final sample may exclude parents who found the survey too distressing or too long. The study describes parents' experiences and preferences; it does not test whether any ED support model improves adolescent or parent outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Australian Government Research Training Program.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 90.2% preference for adolescent-focused support as proof that parents do not want support for themselves. The survey asked parents to choose one focus, and the authors say this may reflect parents prioritising their child rather than having no need for parent-focused help.