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Journal ArticleDOI

Sex Differences in the Causes of Adolescent Suicide Ideation.

01 Mar 1985-Journal of Youth and Adolescence (Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers)-Vol. 14, Iss: 5, pp 423-434
TL;DR: Results of the present study suggest that although significant at the zero-order level, factors such as self-esteem and interpersonal problems at school were not related to suicide ideation when the effects of the other explanatory variables were controlled.
Abstract: A model that incorporates both socioenvironmental and psychological factors was developed in an attempt to explain adolescent suicide ideation. A sample of 407 high school students was used to test the model. Most of the previous research on the causes of adolescent suicidal behavior has not used multivariate data analysis techniques and has failed to explore sex differences. Results of the present study suggest that these are important omissions. Although significant at the zero-order level, factors such as self-esteem and interpersonal problems at school were not related to suicide ideation when the effects of the other explanatory variables were controlled. The incidence of suicide ideation was higher for females. Emotional problems and involvement in delinquent behavior were important predictors of ideation for females, while employment problems were the most potent predictor for males.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Female adolescents' suicidal thoughts are significantly increased by social isolation and friendship patterns in which friends were not friends with each other, which affects suicidality for both boys and girls.
Abstract: Objectives. We investigated the relationship between friendships and suicidality among male and female adolescents. Methods. We analyzed friendship data on 13 465 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health to explore the relationship between friendship and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. We controlled for known factors associated with suicidality. Results. Having had a friend who committed suicide increased the likelihood of suicidal ideation and attempts for both boys and girls. Socially isolated females were more likely to have suicidal thoughts, as were females whose friends were not friends with each other. Among adolescents thinking about suicide, suicide attempts appear largely stochastic, with few consistent risk factors between boys and girls. Conclusions. The friendship environment affects suicidality for both boys and girls. Female adolescents’ suicidal thoughts are significantly increased by social isolation and friendship patterns in which friends were not f...

636 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A systematic review of the international literature on population-based studies of factors associated with suicidal phenomena in adolescents, which encompass psychiatric, psychological, physical, personal, familial and social domains, concludes with a summary of the findings.

503 citations


Cites background from "Sex Differences in the Causes of Ad..."

  • ...…1989; Eskin, 1995; Fergusson & Lynskey, 1995; Jones, 1991; Kaltiala et al., 1999; Kandel et al., 1991; Manson et al., 1989; Martin et al., 1995; Rubenstein et al., 1989; Simons & Murphy, 1985; Stewart et al., 1999; Wagman Borowsky et al., 1999; Wagner et al., 1995; Wright, 1985; Yuen et al., 1996)....

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  • ...…was investigated in seven studies (Allison, Pearce, Martin, Miller, & Long, 1995; Cole, 1989; Howard-Pitney et al., 1992; Marcenko, Fishman, & Friedman, 1999; Overholser et al., 1995; Rubenstein et al., 1989; Simons & Murphy, 1985) and found to be positive in all but one (Marcenko et al., 1999)....

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  • ...A similar association was reported for suicidal ideation (Buddeberg et al., 1996; Canton et al., 1989; Choquet & Menke, 1989; Dubow et al., 1989; Jones, 1991; Juon et al., 1994; Kandel et al., 1991; Simons & Murphy, 1985)....

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  • ...…(90% or over) of the participants were aged between 12 and 20 years (inclusive); (3) study participants had answered either a self-report questionnaire about suicidal phenomena, or answered similar questions presented at interview; and (4) a prevalence figure for suicidal phenomena was reported....

    [...]

  • ...…lower self-esteem than other adolescents (Fergusson & Lynskey, 1995; Overholser et al., 1995), and in three studies adolescents who had experienced suicidal ideation had significantly lower self-esteem than other adolescents (Marcenko et al., 1999; Overholser et al., 1995; Simons & Murphy, 1985)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relation between family economic hardship and adolescent distress among secondary school students in a small Midwestern community and found that family hardship has both direct and indirect effects on adolescent distress.
Abstract: The relation between family economic hardship and adolescent distress among secondary school students in a small Midwestern community was investigated. According to prior results, family hardship has both direct and indirect effects on adolescent distress. The indirect effects come about through stress-induced changes in parental nurturance and parental discipline. The findings of this study showed that hardship effects varied according to type of distress. For females as well as males, economic hardship had both direct and indirect effects on a depression-loneliness distress factor. The indirect effects occurred through less parental nurturance and more inconsistent discipline. No direct effect of economic hardship was found for either males or females on a distress factor composed of delinquency and drug use items. For both females and males, however, an indirect effect of family economic hardship on the delinquency-drug use factor was found with inconsistent parental discipline as the mediating variable.

479 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Suicidal ideation at age 15 was a marker of distress with long-term implications for later functioning, and the early gender-specific risk factors for suicidal behavior identified can aid in developing strategies for prevention and early intervention.
Abstract: Objective An ongoing, 14-year, longitudinal community study examined psychosocial risks for adolescent suicidal ideation and attempts, as well as the link between earlier suicidal behavior and later functioning Method Nearly 400 youths were followed between the ages of 5 and 18 years Suicidal ideation was assessed at age 15 and lifetime suicide attempts were determined at age 18 Risk factors covered developmental periods from birth to age 15, and most were measured prospectively using multiple informants Late-adolescent functioning (at age 18) was based on both self-reports and school records Results For both genders, the early onset (by age 14) of psychiatric disorders significantly increased the risk for suicidal ideation at age 15 and suicide attempts by age 18 Early gender-specific risks for suicidal ideation included preschool behaviors that are counter to typical gender norms, such as aggressive behavior in females and dependence in males Suicidal ideation at age 15 and suicide attempts were both associated with deficits in later adolescence (at age 18) in behavioral and social-emotional functioning Conclusions Suicidal ideation at age 15 was a marker of distress with long-term implications for later functioning The early gender-specific risk factors for suicidal behavior identified in this study can aid in developing strategies for prevention and early intervention

280 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Females had more risk factors and showed a greater vulnerability to the factors than did males and the probability of having made an attempt increased dramatically as a function of the number of risk factors.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify psychosocial risk factors uniquely associated with past suicide attempts. Data assessing a large number of variables were available from a representative sample of older adolescents (N = 1,710). Most independent variables were associated with past suicide attempts; variables that remained associated with past attempts after controlling for current depression level included externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors, past psychiatric disorders, depressotypic cognitions, coping, school problems, health problems, and gender. The probability of having made an attempt increased dramatically as a function of the number of risk factors. Females had more risk factors and showed a greater vulnerability to the factors than did males.

268 citations

References
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Book
21 Apr 1965

21,050 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

6,864 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 1970

5,390 citations

Book
30 Jan 1965
TL;DR: Suicide and attempted suicide, suicide and attempted suicides as discussed by the authors, suicide, attempted suicide, suicide and suicide, suicidal, attempted suicides, suicide attempt, suicide, attempt to commit suicide
Abstract: Suicide and attempted suicide , Suicide and attempted suicide , کتابخانه مرکزی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی ایران

699 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Subjects experiencing suicidal feelings in the last year reported more minor psychiatric symptoms, particularly of depression, were more socially isolated, less religious, and to a lesser extent had experienced more stressful events and more somatic illness.
Abstract: Seven hundred and twenty subjects from a general population survey were interviewed as to the occurrence of suicidal feelings of five different degrees. A total of 8.9 per cent reported suicidal feelings of some degree in the past year. Responses ranged along a continuum such that subjects reporting more intense feelings also reported the less intense. For 3.5 per cent the maximum intensity consisted only of feelings that life was not worth while; 2.8 per cent reached the point of wishing themselves dead, 1 per cent the point of having thought of taking their lives, 1 per cent seriously considered suicide or made plans, and 0.6 per cent made an actual suicide attempt. Subjects experiencing suicidal feelings in the last year reported more minor psychiatric symptoms, particularly of depression, were more socially isolated, less religious, and to a lesser extent had experienced more stressful events and more somatic illness. In these respects they resembled descriptions of completed suicides. Unlike suicides, however, they were more likely to be female and did not show any other specific demographic characteristics.

683 citations