Premium
Adolescent suicide, depression and family dysfunction
Author(s) -
Martin G.,
Rotaries P.,
Pearce C.,
Allison S.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1995.tb09594.x
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , psychology , suicide attempt , suicide prevention , psychiatry , beck depression inventory , clinical psychology , poison control , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , family history , medicine , medical emergency , anxiety , macroeconomics , economics
This study investigated associations between adolescents' perceptions of their family dynamics (McMaster Family Assessment Device, FAD) and depression, suicide thoughts and attempts. High school students (mean age 15.2 years) completed self‐report questionnaires including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the FAD, questions about suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts, deliberate self harm, and selected life experiences. Univariate analysis showed that family dysfunction measured on the FAD is associated with thinking and planning suicide, deliberate self harm, suicide attempts, as well as severe depression (BDI ≥ 222). Despite this, stepwise regression indicated that family dysfunction influences suicide behaviors indirectly through other variables such as depression. The FAD is recommended as a useful addition to questionnaires seeking to identify vulnerability to both depression and adolescent attempted suicide in early detection studies.