Suicide is a complex yet preventable public health issue impacting youth across the United States. The ways in which identity and school climate impact mental health and suicidality among youth remains relatively underexamined in the literature. In the current study, building on prior quantitative research, I conducted participatory focus groups with high school students as part of a convergent multi-stage mixed-methods project. I leverage intersectionality theory and the phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST) to foreground youth voice to inform our understanding of how youth experience the intersections of identity and mental health and suicide, and what resources and support they would like to see in their schools.In the first phase of the study, I conducted two participatory focus groups with 10 high school students at a local high school in mid-Michigan. Students responded to prompts and engaged directly in inductive analysis to code, theme, and categorize their responses utilizing the Youth GO approach. In second phase, I conducted deductive analysis across both focus groups using a priori constructs related to identity, suicide, and school climate, including identity emergence, risk contributors, and stress engagement. Finally, I integrated these findings with the quantitative results from the previous study to further explain and expound on the impacts of identity and school climate on the experiences of mental health and suicidality among youth.Within and across focus groups, students identified both the multifaceted nature and the strength of their unique identities—that they are discovering themselves and their identities in the context of others, which can often create a tension between being authentic and fitting in. Students discussed how assumptions and perceptions from others can influence these experiences, which—when combined with pressures from school, family members, or oneself—can result in feelings of isolation or, in the cases of some students, depression and anxiety. Students identified the need for more accessible and approachable resources in the school, combined with more communication and transparency about what is available. Youth also discussed the need for these resources to be informed by students’ experiences. More than anything, students expressed a desire to be heard and validated: “...that’s honestly all 10-year-old me needed was just somebody to listen.”Taken together, these findings illustrate the need for additional quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research that directly engage youth in conversations about identity, mental health, and school climate. Findings also illustrate the vital need for local, state, and federal legislation that funds research and resources for youth suicide prevention, and ensures the accessibility of such resources. Finally, these findings indicate that more approachable resources and support being available in schools in ways that are convenient, accessible, and equity- and trauma-informed can be affirmative and preventative for youth who are struggling, and may in fact be lifesaving.
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