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Behavioral Sciences
Volume 15
Issue 12
10.3390/bs15121601
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Review

Digital Detection of Suicidal Ideation: A Scoping Review to Inform Prevention and Psychological Well-Being

by
Benedetta Trentarossi
1,†,
Mateus Eduardo Romão
2,†,
Serena Barello
2,3,
Makilim Nunes Baptista
4,
Silvia Damiana Visonà
1 and
Giacomo Belli
1,*
1
Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
2
WHYpsy Lab, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
3
Unit of Applied Psychology, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy
4
Department of Psychology at Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, State University of Campinas, Campinas 13034-685, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(12), 1601; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15121601
Submission received: 8 September 2025 / Revised: 4 November 2025 / Accepted: 17 November 2025 / Published: 21 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Interventions and Research for Health and Psychological Well-Being)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Suicide is a major global public health concern, especially among young people. Given that digital surroundings are progressively influencing communication patterns, young people frequently communicate their feelings online, including suicidal thoughts. By promptly drawing attention to these posts, a crucial preventive measure could be taken. A scoping review guided by the research question “What is the current state of the art in detecting suicidal ideation in online posts?” following PRISMA guidelines. Out of the 1584 articles identified, only 48 met the inclusion criteria. The majority of articles were related to posts written in English on Reddit and Twitter. The main aim of the studies were interpretative (aim to explore how suicidal ideation is expressed in online environments) or predictive (aim to identify posts that may indicate suicidal ideation) and most of the posts were analyzed using artificial intelligence rather than traditional methods. Some, however, used mixed methods. Despite the potential of AI for rapidly processing and annotating suicidal notes, several hurdles remain, especially ethically obtained data sets and limited cross-cultural portability of models. Furthermore, current AI systems fail to interpret metaphors, irony, or context-specific meaning underscoring the requirement for hybrid models combining machine speed with human judgment.
Keywords: suicide prevention; scoping review; suicidal ideation; online; digital suicide suicide prevention; scoping review; suicidal ideation; online; digital suicide

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MDPI and ACS Style

Trentarossi, B.; Romão, M.E.; Barello, S.; Baptista, M.N.; Visonà, S.D.; Belli, G. Digital Detection of Suicidal Ideation: A Scoping Review to Inform Prevention and Psychological Well-Being. Behav. Sci. 2025, 15, 1601. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15121601

AMA Style

Trentarossi B, Romão ME, Barello S, Baptista MN, Visonà SD, Belli G. Digital Detection of Suicidal Ideation: A Scoping Review to Inform Prevention and Psychological Well-Being. Behavioral Sciences. 2025; 15(12):1601. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15121601

Chicago/Turabian Style

Trentarossi, Benedetta, Mateus Eduardo Romão, Serena Barello, Makilim Nunes Baptista, Silvia Damiana Visonà, and Giacomo Belli. 2025. "Digital Detection of Suicidal Ideation: A Scoping Review to Inform Prevention and Psychological Well-Being" Behavioral Sciences 15, no. 12: 1601. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15121601

APA Style

Trentarossi, B., Romão, M. E., Barello, S., Baptista, M. N., Visonà, S. D., & Belli, G. (2025). Digital Detection of Suicidal Ideation: A Scoping Review to Inform Prevention and Psychological Well-Being. Behavioral Sciences, 15(12), 1601. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15121601

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