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.