{
  "abstract": "Objective: To examine the rates of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and symptoms of depression and anxiety among Australians aged 12 to 25 years, and covariates. Design: A multi-wave national cross-sectional survey. Setting and participants: Participants were recruited online from research panels, boosted through convenience sampling. Data were weighted by age, gender, and location. Main outcomes: Rates of suicidal ideation, self-harm, depressive and anxiety symptoms. Population-weighted descriptive statistics were used to examine prevalence; logistic and linear regressions identified demographic, clinical and social covariates. Results: N=2,863 participants were included in analysis. Mean age was 18.6; 50.7% (1439/2840) were cisgender men/boys; 4.5% (127/2840) were trans and/or gender diverse. One in three (32.1%, 859/2680) reported lifetime suicidal ideation, 26.8% (748/2787) lifetime self-harm and 8.0% (210/2631) lifetime suicide attempt. Twelve-month prevalence rates were 14.6% (387/2655) for suicidal ideation and 12.5% (347/2779) for self-harm. 38.9% (1107/2847) reported at least moderate depression symptoms, and 34.6% (988/2857) reported at least moderate anxiety symptoms. Rates of suicide-related behaviour, depression and anxiety were highest in trans and/or gender diverse young people followed by cisgender women/girls. Covariates for suicidal ideation and self-harm included loneliness, younger age, depressive symptoms, >2 adverse childhood experiences, and suicide bereavement. Covariates associated with depression and anxiety outcomes also included social exclusion/withdrawal, sleep problems, and alcohol or other drug problems. Conclusions: Suicidal ideation, self-harm and mental ill-health in young Australians appear higher than previous estimates, and are particularly high among young women/girls and trans and/or gender diverse youth. Findings highlight the need for urgent responses that extend beyond individual-level intervention to address the broader social conditions shaping young people’s mental health. The study also points to the need for timely and robust data that can inform practice and policy and help evaluate new initiatives. Future waves of this survey will help these efforts.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Jo Robinson"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bridget Kenny"
    },
    {
      "name": "Elise Carrotte"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shu Mei Teo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Caroline X. Gao"
    },
    {
      "name": "Eleanor Bailey"
    },
    {
      "name": "India Bellairs-Walsh"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gowri Rajaram"
    },
    {
      "name": "Deanna DeCicco"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alex Dalton"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7a9h1c1kwkggc.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.31234/osf.io/v6xjs_v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "7a9h1c1kwkggc",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/v6xjs_v1/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "bepress",
      "Adolescence"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Clinical Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Developmental Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Early Adulthood"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Health Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Mental Health"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Quantitative Methods"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Quantitative Psychology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Social and Behavioral Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3203|Suicide and Self-Harm Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214193741",
  "pdf_url": "https://osf.io/v6xjs/download",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7a9h1c1kwkggc.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:36Z",
      "native_id": "v6xjs",
      "source": "osf",
      "url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/v6xjs_v1/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "bepress:Clinical Psychology",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Rates and covariates of suicidal behaviour and mental ill-health in young Australians: findings from wave one of the Right Here, Right Now national survey",
  "title_text": "Rates and covariates of suicidal behaviour and mental ill-health in young Australians: findings from wave one of the Right Here, Right Now national survey",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7a9h1c1kwkggc",
  "venue": "PsyArXiv",
  "versions": []
}