Editorial Commentary

A systematic review first published in Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health, by Harder et al., examined methodological rigor in the current literature of indigenous youth suicide and further examined the importance of risk and protective factors. From 771 papers, only 23 were of sufficient quality to be included in the review. Identified risk factors included depression and having a friend attempt and/or successfully kill themselves. An example of a protective factor was high levels of support. Further risk and protective factors are presented but a major finding of this review (Chapter 30) was the lack of academic rigor in much of the available research, indicating a need for increased efforts for researchers to conduct and present more rigorous research. One example of the problems within the research was the lack of any consistent definition of the concept of culture and how the term is used in research.