Interventions that address suicidal thoughts and behaviors in youth with a history of childhood sexual abuse: A scoping review

Introduction Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant public health concern linked to enduring psychological harm. A most serious consequence is elevated risk for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), which commonly emerge during adolescence. Substantial evidence connects sexual trauma with suicidality and NSSI in youth, but few studies examined interventions specifically targeting suicide-related outcomes among youth with CSA histories. This scoping review synthesizes existing literature on interventions reporting suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and/or NSSI outcomes in youth aged 10–19 who experienced sexual abuse. Methods The review conformed to the PRISMA-SCR guidelines. Eligible peer-reviewed studies evaluated interventions for youth with documented sexual trauma histories and reported outcomes related to suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, or NSSI. A comprehensive search of eight interdisciplinary databases used key concepts related to sexual trauma, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, NSSI, youth, and intervention or prevention research. Results 1,139 records, with 13 studies meeting inclusion criteria: yielding eight quantitative studies and five case reports examining interventions for suicidality among youth with sexual trauma histories. Studies had considerable variability with respect to intervention modality, study design, outcome measures, and sample characteristics with eleven studies reporting post-treatment suicidal ideation reductions, six documented decreased suicide attempts, and four reporting NSSI reduction. Conclusion Youth with CSA histories face higher suicidality risk. Trauma-specific, cognitive-behavioral, family-based, and multimodal interventions show the most consistent benefits. Conclusions are constrained by limited CSA-specific reporting, variability in measurement quality, underrepresentation of male survivors, and inconsistent terminology, underscoring future research priorities.