PhD Scientific Days 2026

Poster Session 2.K - Mental Health Sciences

Co-occurring difficulties of young people reporting suicidal ideation in chat conversations at the Hungarian child helpline: An exploratory study

Name of the presenter

Gyimesi, Benedek

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Doctoral College of Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

Authors

Benedek Gyimesi¹, Rebecca Cseh², Borbála Reményiné Csekeő³, Judit Balázs⁴
1: Doctoral College of Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
2: Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
3: Kék Vonal Child Crisis Foundation, Budapest, Hungary
4: Faculty of Education and Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Psychology, Oslo New College, Oslo, Norway

Text of the abstract

Introduction:
Suicide remains to be the second leading cause of death worldwide among young people, and the Hungarian youth helpline Kék Vonal has experienced more than a twofold increase in contacts involving suicidal ideation compared to three years prior. Although youth helplines play a crucial role in suicide prevention, they are not supported with empirical evidence in Hungary.

Aims:
This study aimed to examine the additional difficulties reported by young individuals contacting the helpline with suicidal ideation, and to contribute to the development of empirical research on youth helplines in Hungary.

Methods:
We analyzed chat conversation reports from 2022 at Kék Vonal. Using systematic data categorization, we identified the most and least frequently occurring main and subtopics accompanying suicidal ideation, and examined the relationships between the most frequently occuring themes using log-linear regression.

Results:
A total of 195 chat reports were analyzed. The most frequently reported topics included interpersonal conflicts (N = 110), abuse (N = 121), and self-harm (N = 119). Less commonly mentioned topics were illnesses (N = 69), negative life events (N = 35), and performance-related difficulties (N = 34), all in conjunction with suicidal ideation. Interpersonal conflicts showed a significant association with abuse (p < 0.004). Although no significant correlation was found between abuse and self-harm, the two co-occurred in 40.5% of cases.

Conclusion:
Our findings indicate that interpersonal conflicts, abuse, and self-harm are frequently reported alongside suicidal ideation in helpline chat conversations among adolescents and young adults, with a significant co-occurrence between interpersonal conflicts and abuse. Although these findings do not establish causality, the high prevalence of these issues underscores the need for further research focusing on youth helplines.

Funding:
This study received no external funding.