The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about reduced social interactions, such as the closure of schools, the widespread adoption of remote work arrangements, and the halt of in-person meetings and events, leading to unforeseen changes in our society. These restrictions on external activities have triggered a range of issues, including excessive exposure to media, increase of depression and economic challenges, leading to conflicts within families, and subsequently, deterioration in the mental well-being of adolescents. Particularly, the escalating concern is that as time goes on, the youth suicide rate could reach unprecedented levels, accompanied by rapid increase in serious self-injury and suicide cases within schools. However, self-injury and suicide are psychological and health-related concerns, characterized by a strong sense of stigma and concealment. As a result, adolescents are often hesitant to provide honest responses during screening tests. Moreover, there is a distinct tendency among adolescents to resist seeking counseling and psychological interventions, resulting in a significantly low rate of successful treatment. Given that adolescents’ mental health challenges extend beyond the immediate phase and continue to have lasting impacts into adulthood across various aspects of life including family, professional experiences, and social adaptation, it is important to prevent, early identify, intervene, and continuously manage and support self-injury and suicide adolescents.

   Our center strives to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding self-harm and suicide among Korean adolescents. Through a rigorous longitudinal study spanning three years, we aim to construct a Korean biopsychosocial pathway model with the ultimate goal of intervening in and preventing self-harm and suicide in this population. Building upon this theoretical foundation, we are endeavoring to develop an innovative Ecological Momentary Assessment Online Application. This application will enable the identification of crises experienced by adolescents struggling with self-harm and suicidal ideations, facilitating their seamless connection to appropriate treatment interventions. In line with our objectives, we aspire to create an Ecological Momentary Intervention that incorporates cutting-edge features such as social networking, virtual reality, and personalized AI services. This intervention is designed to provide therapeutic support to adolescents who have encountered self-harm or suicidal ideations, as well as clients who face challenges in accessing counseling and treatment. By leveraging the ubiquity of smartphones, we aim to deliver therapeutic interventions that transcend traditional counseling sessions, unrestricted by temporal and geographical limitations.