Suicide and Youth

The problem of suicide among young people is increasing at phenomenal rates. More young people die by suicide than from cancer and heart ailments combined. More than 4,000 young suicides are recorded each year, but no one knows how many suicide attempts fail. This article examines the problem of adolescent suicide and suicide attempts in relation to cultural factors, sex differences, and probable causes. Case studies help to identify symptomatic behavior. The importance of parents, teachers, and counselors in becoming alert to conflict and stress situations in youths is delineated. Community and school responsibility for leading youth to self-understanding and self-direction is crucial, and the article suggests several means of prevention through mental health and moral responsibility.     

Adolescent Development and Youth Suicide

The adolescent years, being a period of unique developmental changes, are of great interest in understanding suicidal behavior. The occurrence of completed suicide by age in 1-year age groups in adolescence and young adulthood was studied via official Finnish mortality statistics and the population statistics. Suicide rates increased sharply by age during adolescence, starting somewhat earlier among boys than among girls. During the periods of rapidly rising and high suicide rates in the 1970s and 1980s among boys, the increase in suicide rates started at a younger age than during a spell of lower rates in the 1960s.     

Factor Structure of Calhoun's Youth Suicide Scale

To assess the factor structure of Calhoun's Youth Suicide Scale (YSS), 191 consenting undergraduates in one sample and 240 consenting undergraduates in a second sample wee given the YSS during class. From the second sample, 152 subjects also took the YSS a second time about 1 month later. In the first sample, three factors, which accounted for 50.0% of the variance, emerged. They were: How the Parents were Viewed (in terms of psychological disturbance, likability, and blame); Expected Responses to the Bereaved Family (terms of tension and sympathy); and Empathy with Parents (whether the newspaper was viewed as correct in reporting the cause of death, how long parents were expected to grieve, and whether parents were expected to be liked). In the second sample, the same three factors emerged (accounting for 55.5% of the variance), with the exception of one item on Factor 3: expecting to like the parents. Congruence coefficients between the three factors in the two samples were .98, .94, and .78, respectively. Reliability correlations on individual items ranged from a low of .30 to a high of .61. These results indicate that the YSS is valid, stable, and moderately reliable for assessing reactions to youth suicide; thus, it would be a viable instrument for use in future research on reactions to suicide.     

Factor structure of Calhoun's Youth Suicide Scale

To assess the factor structure of Calhoun's Youth Suicide Scale (YSS), 191 consenting undergraduates in one sample and 240 consenting undergraduates in a second sample wee given the YSS during class. From the second sample, 152 subjects also took the YSS a second time about 1 month later. In the first sample, three factors, which accounted for 50.0% of the variance, emerged. They were: How the Parents were Viewed (in terms of psychological disturbance, likability, and blame); Expected Responses to the Bereaved Family (terms of tension and sympathy); and Empathy with Parents (whether the newspaper was viewed as correct in reporting the cause of death, how long parents were expected to grieve, and whether parents were expected to be liked). In the second sample, the same three factors emerged (accounting for 55.5% of the variance), with the exception of one item on Factor 3: expecting to like the parents. Congruence coefficients between the three factors in the two samples were .98, .94, and .78, respectively. Reliability correlations on individual items ranged from a low of .30 to a high of .61. These results indicate that the YSS is valid, stable, and moderately reliable for assessing reactions to youth suicide; thus, it would be a viable instrument for use in future research on reactions to suicide.     

Youth Suicide Intervention Using the Satir Model

Youth suicide is a social issue that needs serious consideration among families, therapists and helping professionals. This article presents an actual case of a youth who completed suicide, and discussion of the hypothetical Satir model treatment of this youth while alive. The Satir model has numerous interventions that have current applications toward dealing with suicidal youth in a humanist and hopeful way, fostering youths' desire to live and to become more positively involved in their lives. In the past, Satir focused on coping stances in communication, and now the coping stances give a deeper understanding into the internal world.     

Confucianism and Youth Suicide in Rural China

This study examined the relationship between core Confucian ethics and suicide. We used a proxy sample of youths randomly selected from rural areas of three provinces in China. The proxy sample consisted of 382 completed suicides and 414 community living controls, all aged 15–34 years. Logistic regression analyses showed that among the Chinese youths (1) the Confucian ethic of filial piety was negatively associated with suicide; (2) the Confucian ethic of harmony moderated the estimated net effect of negative life events on suicide; and (3) the Confucian ethic of female subordination was positively linked with suicide. We also discussed implications of our study for future research.     

The Vulnerability of Young Japanese Women and Suicide

ABSTRACT: Young Japanese females had the highest suicide rate in the world until the end of the 1960s, and it is still extremely high. This paper attempts to explain this phenomenon primarily in terms of vulnerability—in their personalities, social conditions, and role conflicts. Concomitant psychological traits and social conditions are discussed. The cultural conflict of young Japanese women is explicated in terms of psychological and historical information. In addition, the reasons for the differences between the suicide rates among females in the Tokyo area and the Kyoto-Osaka area are explored largely in terms of concepts relating to authoritarianism and its correlates.     

Psychosocial Correlates of Suicide Attempts Among Junior and Senior High School Youth

Three groups of junior and senior high schools students (total N = 1050) recruited in rural counties of a mid-Atlantic state–those who had made a prior suicide attempt, those reporting high levels of depressed mood or suicidal ideation, and those who were not depressed or suicidal – were compared with regard to their reports of a number of potential risk factors for suicidal behavior. Adolescents with a history of a suicide attempt reported more frequent stresses related to parents, lack of adult supports outside of the home, police, and sexuality (i.e., concerns about pregnancy, pressure to have sex, getting sexually transmitted diseases), compared with both depressed/suicide ideators and nondepressed adolescents. Suicide attempters were also more likely than the other adolescents to report that they were physically hurt by a parent, that they ran away from home, that they lived apart from both parents, and that they knew someone who had completed suicide. Results are discussed in the context of prior studies of adolescent suicidal behavior in community and clinical samples.     

Youth Suicide: The Knowledge and Attitudes of Australian Teachers and Clergy

This is the first study of the suicide-related knowledge and attitudes of teachers and clergy in Australia. These professional groups have been identified as “gatekeepers” who might serve as a first line of assistance for distressed young people. Such gatekeepers, along with medical and mental health professionals, have a vital role to play in the prevention of youth suicide, of which Australia has the highest rates in the world. This research confirmed that high numbers of teachers and clergy have been approached by suicidal young persons. However, their gatekeeping role may be compromised by a low level of knowledge about signs of suicide risk, which was found even among those who had taken courses in suicide or death and dying or who had personally known someone who suicided. Suicidal behavior was found to be generally regarded as unacceptable, especially by those with a high religious commitment. Further educational efforts about suicide risk identification and prevention seem to be needed for both teachers and clergy; it will be important for such education to take into account attitudinal issues and how these might affect communication with young suicidal people.     

Reducing Suicide Potential Among High-Risk Youth: Tests of a School-Based Prevention Program

This study tested the efficacy of a school-based prevention program for reducing suicide potential among high-risk youth. A sample of 105 youth at suicide risk participated in a three-group, repeated-measures, intervention study. Participants in (1) an assessment plus 1-semester experimental program, (2) an assessment plus 2-semester experimental program, and (3) an assessment-only group were compared, using data from preintervention, 5-month, and 10-month follow-up assessments. All groups showed decreased suicide risk behaviors, depression, hopelessness, stress, and anger; all groups also reported increased self-esteem and network social support. Increased personal control was observed only in the experimental groups, and not in the assessment-only control group. The potential efficacy of the experimental school-based prevention program was demonstrated. The necessary and sufficient strategies for suicide prevention, however, need further study as the assessment-only group, who received limited prevention elements, showed improvements similar to those of the experimental groups.     

Diagnosis of Youth At-Risk for Suicide,Pregnancy, and Drug and Alcohol Abuse

The intent of this paper is to overview three selected subgroups of at-risk youth. These subgroups are: suicidal adolescents, pregnant teenagers, and drug and alcohol abusers. Alternatives to traditional diagnostic procedures will be examined from the perspective of determining whether they can effectively and efficitently provide information necessary to develop a client management plan. A continuing diagnostic process providing the data base for a client information system is proposed. Such diagnostic practices can promote the early recognition of at-risk behaviors, thus increasing the general awareness, or early recognition, that may be crucial to preventive efforts. Discussion is provided for the use of the term at-risk. In this paper, the term is used to mean more than an adolescent who is simply at academic risk and prone to dropping out (being stopped or pushed out) of school. As used here, the at-risk group includes a number of students who are not only failing academically, but display unwanted social-personal behaviors, leading to possible adjudication or requiring community based support services, while some may even be in life-threatening circumstances.     

Youth Suicide Trends in California: An Examination of Immigrant and Ethnic Group Risk

Although immigrants are in better health than the U.S.-born population according to a variety of indicators, little research has investigated current foreign-born/U.S.-born differentials in suicide. A review of 32,928 California death certificates from 1970 to 1992 indicates that although foreign-born persons are consistently underrepresented in the suicide deaths of 15- to 34-year-olds (risk ratio = 0.60), any foreign- versus U.S.-born difference by ethnicity appears to be decreasing. Specifically, although Hispanics born outside the United States consistently are at significantly lower risk of suicide than U.S.-born Hispanics, the discrepancy between the two groups has diminished over time. And, in a comparable trend, non-Hispanic white persons born outside the United States were at higher risk of suicide than their U.S.-born counterparts until 1990, when their risk became similar. Black and Asian/other foreign- and U.S.-born persons have been at statistically similar risk since 1970. A man using a firearm at home was the typical pattern for both the foreign- and U.S.-born.     

Adolescent and Parent Perspectives on Ethical Issues in Youth Drug Use and Suicide Survey Research

The contributions of adolescent and parent perspectives to ethical planning of survey research on youth drug use and suicide behaviors are highlighted through an empirical examination of 322 7th-12th graders' and 160 parents' opinions on questions related to 4 ethical dimensions of survey research practice: (a)evaluating research risks and benefits, (b)establishing guardian permission requirements, (c)developing confidentiality and disclosure policies, and (d)using cash incentives for recruitment. Generational and ethnic variation in response to questionnaire items developed from discussions within adolescent and parent focus groups are described. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential contributions and challenges of adolescent and parent perspectives for planning scientifically valid and ethically responsible youth risk survey research.     

Youth Suicide Prevention: A Survey and Analysis of Policies and Efforts in the 50 States

State-level initiatives directed at youth suicide prevention since 1980 were analyzed. During 1992 and 1996, each governor was surveyed regarding his or her state's efforts in youth suicide prevention. Questions pertained to legislation, a mandated or recommended school-based suicide prevention curriculum, funding, a special advisory council, a state plan, the development and dissemination of materials, and assessment. Several states sent examples of their prevention activities, which were reviewed to determine the extent to which they represent conceptually and/or empirically grounded preventive intervention strategies. The number of suicides, suicide rates, and percentage change in rate for youth 15–19 years old were reported by state for the periods 1979–1981 and 1992–1994. The results of a repeated measures 2 × 5 ANOVA revealed that while changes in suicide rates over time were statistically significant, there was no relation between these changes and any of the variables studied. Suggestions for future research on state-level initiatives are presented.     

Youth Suicide in Norway, 1990–1992: A Comparison between Children and Adolescents Completing Suicide and Age- and Gender-Matched Controls

In Norway 1990–1992, the suicide rate was 18.6 per 100,000 individuals per year for boys 15–19 years old and 6.3 for girls, and for 10–14 year olds the rate was 2.7 for boys and 0.5 for girls. Comparison of all completed suicides (N = 129) with gender- and age-matched control subjects identified depression (OR = 19.9; CI = 11.2, 35.5), disruptive disorders (OR = 6.0; CI = 3.1, 11.4), and previous suicidal behavior (OR = 3.4, CI = 2.0, 5.6) as main risk factors. Of the suicide completers, 74% had mental disorders. Suicidal intent was previously expressed by 48%, but few (24%) had received treatment, despite well-developed health services. A history of disruptive disorders (17%) and substance abuse (10%) were less frequently found than in previous studies, but binge drinking may contribute to the adolescent suicide rate.     

Youth and Trauma: Terror,War, Murder,Incest, Rape,and Suicide

College students in the United States post-9/11 face a different world than did their predecessors. In short vignettes this article reveals some of the numerous traumas that have been reported in a full-service counseling center at a small state university. Exploration of the impact of traumas past and present is interwoven with commentary on the impact of systems dynamics. A brief theoretical exploration is included of post-trauma resilience and the ongoing sense of threat that many traumatized persons experience.     

Suicide Prediction

ABSTRACT: Methodological problems intrinsic to suicide prediction are discussed. The research on suicide predictive signs derived from attributes of the suicidal person, his behavior, and his surroundings, and on predictive instruments is reviewed. The results of these researches are equivocal, in that neither single signs, standard psychological tests, specially devised tests, clinical judgments, nor scales are found to be able to predict suicide at useful levels. Scales are shown to offer the best predictive potential, but to date their construction has not been systematic. It is proposed that scales might be better constructed and prediction improved if investigators were to consider the focus, duration, inclusion-exclusion, interactions and subgroupings, and generalizability of suicidal indices.