American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Join AFSP’s Research Connection: The Social Roots of Suicide presented by Anna Mueller, PhD

Learn more about Dr. Mueller’s work on the social roots of suicide and the social-contextual and upstream risk (and protective) factors for suicide. Dr. Mueller will also explain why youth and individuals with lived experience must be included as partners in suicide prevention and how to identify social-contextual issues that schools, communities, parents, and mental health workers must consider when managing a context with a disproportionate number of youth suicides or suicide attempts.

Community members, mental health professionals, school administrators, educators, youth leaders, and parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

About Dr. Mueller: Anna S. Mueller, Ph.D., is the Luther Dana Waterman Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University. She is the Principal Investigator of the Social Worlds & Youth Well-being Study which is a project that aims to identify effective, equitable, and sustainable strategies to prevent suicide in schools and their communities. In 2020, she was named one of Science News’s Top 10 Early Career Scientists to Watch. Her research on youth suicide has received numerous awards for its contribution to knowledge, including the Edwin Shneidman Early Career Award from the American Association of Suicidology. Her work is supported by grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Western Colorado Community Foundation. She is passionate about helping schools, families, and communities find better ways to prevent suicide and heal after suicide losses.

About AFSP’s Research Connection Program: The more we understand about suicide, the more we can prevent it. AFSP-funded research is essential to our mission of saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. Our research funding goes toward studies from neurobiological, psychosocial, and genetic perspectives, as well as topics including clinical treatment, community intervention, and survivors of suicide loss. Our grants help sponsor young investigators, engage senior researchers in suicide prevention, and foster new ideas from suicide researchers at all levels to build a scientific community. We believe it is important to share our findings to increase public knowledge and awareness. Learn more at afsp.org/research. Watch video interviews of experts from around the world as they discuss their work and the future of suicide prevention research here.