DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — Researchers at the University of New Hampshire are getting nearly $3 million to study how teens and young adults are affected when their peers harm themselves.

The grant from the National Institutes of Health will help researchers explore how bystanders handle incidents involving self-directed violence, how often such incidents happen and the results when bystanders intercede.

Kimberly Mitchell, at the university’s Crimes Against Children Research Center, says self-directed violence including suicide is a significant public health issue, but there is very limited information about how bystanders to such violence are impacted by the help they may provide.

Researchers hope their work will lead to successful suicide prevention programs that also could help the bystanders themselves.

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