Development of a Tool To Assess Suicide Risk Factors in Urban Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 127106
• Journal: Adolescence Volume: 25 Issue: 99 Dated: (Fall 1990) Pages: 655-666
• Author(s): G L White Jr; R T Murdock; G E Richardson; G D Ellis; L J Schmidt
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A sample of 82 adolescents who had attempted suicide within the past 18 months and 57 who had met the other inclusion criteria, but had never attempted suicide completed a questionnaire were surveyed. The results were used to develop a pilot adolescent suicide risk assessment tool at the University of Utah.

Abstract

All subjects were at least 5-year residents of the State, in good health, enrolled in public school, living at home, and between the ages of 14 and 19. Descriminant analyses were performed for family environment, social environment, and self-perception domains. In the subdomain of family environment, parental relations had the highest correlation; suicide attempters generally had very negative relations with their parents. In their social environments, the subjects' relations in order of magnitude were to school, friends, country, cult membership, and church. Self-perception showed significant differences between the groups in terms of self-esteem and mental status, while physical symptoms were less strongly correlated. 4 tables and 22 references