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Call for Papers!

Suicide has become a pressing public health issue facing university students in South Africa. The past 5 years has seen a spike in the reporting of suicide acts, attempts, and ideation among university students across the country, resulting in much concern among mental health specialists, educationists, and others.

There have been some tragic events at university campuses in the last few years, leading to concerns about the mental well-being of university students in the country. Suicidality is linked with a variety of adverse precursors, outcomes, and mental illness – with the most common being depressive disorders. Studies among university students show that students who reported suicidal thoughts and behaviour were more likely to be depressed.

It is within this context that we invite submissions for a Special Section of an Issue in the South African Journal of Psychology on depression and suicide in university students. This section follows from psychology’s concern nationally, as well as a symposium held at the 25th Annual Psychology Congress in Johannesburg, during September 2019.

This Special Section welcomes manuscripts related to depression and suicide assessment, prevention, and intervention. In addition, because we know that depression and suicide (just as with other psychopathologies) are a consequence of a complex interaction between multiple and varying factors, this Special Section also invites works that instigate a shift in the study of the aetiology and expression of depression and suicide, towards complexity science and research.

The following keywords are suggestions of what can be submitted:

• Suicide
• Depression
• Symptomatics
• Prevalence
• Prevention
• Evidence-based interventions (new and innovative approaches)
• Network analysis
• Transdiagnostics
• Correlates
• Measurement and diagnostics
• Complexity science