Submitted by: Rosemary V. Barnett, Ph.D., Youth Development and Public Policy, and Stephanie Bates, B.A., B.S.

Suicide continues to be among the leading causes of death in the United States among 10-19 year olds. It is currently ranked third, with the greatest increases in suicide rates in the previous decade among black and other minority youth. It is important to stay aware and informed about this serious topic. Should we notice serious depressive and/or suicide symptoms among youth, it is critical that they be referred for appropriate treatment immediately.

This review of an article by Iris Wagman Borowsky, MD, Ph.D., Marjorie Ireland, Ph.D. and Michael D. Resnick, Ph.D. (2000) will focus on some current research related to what we know may place a youth at risk for attempting suicide and what has been identified in the research related to protective factors for these youth. This information will help us consider how these factors may relate to youth we know or are currently working with in our programs.

The study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1995 & 1996) which examined interviews with 13,110 students in grades 7-12. The results indicated that certain risk and protective factors for suicide attempts were identified for all adolescents in the study and some were specific to race and gender, specifically focusing on Black, Hispanic and White groups of adolescents.

Risk Factors

For all adolescents, several factors predicted attempting suicide, including a previous suicide attempt, violence victimization, violence perpetration, alcohol use, marijuana use, and school problems.

For girls of all racial/ethnic groups in the study, these factors predicted attempting suicide: somatic symptoms, having a friend attempt or complete suicide, other illicit drug use, and a history of mental health treatment.

For boys of all racial/ethnic groups in the study, predictive factors were: weapon carrying at school and same sex romantic attraction.

For at least 1 of the 6 racial/ethnic groups in the study, risk factors included suicidal behavior of a family member, easy household access to guns, weight dissatisfaction, skipping school, poor perceived general health, being held back a grade in school, and skipping a grade in school.

Protective Factors

Several factors were found to significantly reduce the odds of suicideattempts among youth in the study.

For all adolescents, perceived parent and family connectedness served as a protective factor.

For girls, emotional well-being was protective for all racial/ethnic groups in the study.

For boys, an additional protective factor was a high grade point average.

For some of the boys but not for the girls, high parental expectations for school achievement, more people living in the household and religiosity were protective.

For some of the girls but not for the boys, counseling services at school and parental presence at key times during the day were protective.

When all of the risk factors were analyzed in various combinations with protective factors, significant findings related to protective factors resulted:

The risk for attempting suicide, for all adolescents in the study showed a reduction of 70% to 85% when three protective factors (emotional well-being, parent-family connectedness, grade point average) were present.

These results support the importance of family connectedness when it comes to preventing suicide attempts, regardless of gender or racial/ethnic group.

Emotional well-being also significantly protects youth against suicideattempts; whereas the opposite is true for youth characterized by psychopathology, particularly depression.

Last, it is important to recognize the importance of school factors, specifically academic achievement as measured by grade point average in this study, which supports earlier findings that perceived connectedness to school are also protective by providing youth a sense of belonging, happiness and safety at school (Resnick et al, 1999). Of particular impact is the perception of students that they are close to people at school and teachers care about
them.

As the end of the school year approaches, it is particularly important to keep a watchful eye on youth under added stress, such as final exams, deadlines, and standardized tests. By being aware of suicide predictors as found in this study, we can try to keep youth safe by minimizing risks and enhancing protective factors. Those youth at risk for suicidal behavior or depression can especially benefit from caring adults who address the external demands and stress. This provides youth with these important factors to offset their risk. Clearly, while faced with a serious problem, parents and practitioners are far from powerless in assisting their adolescents.

References:

Borowsky, I.W., Ireland, M. & Resnick, M. (2000). Adolescent suicide attempts: Risks and protectors.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System. http://www.childstats.gov.

Resnick, A.D., Harris, L.J., Blum, R.W. (1993) The impact of caring and connectedness on adolescent health and well-being. Journal of Pediatric Child Health. 29(supplement): S3-S9.

suicide, teens, adolescents, risk factors, prevention