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Suicide Attempts in Runaway Youths
Author(s) -
Stiffman Arlene Rubin
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1989.tb01029.x
Subject(s) - feeling , confusion , psychology , suicide attempt , depression (economics) , quarter (canadian coin) , psychiatry , suicide prevention , logistic regression , mental health , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , social psychology , history , psychoanalysis , archaeology , economics , macroeconomics
: This study explored suicidal behavior in 291 adolescents who were using runaway shelters in St. Louis. Thirty percent of the runaways reported having attempted suicide in the past. The suicide attempters had significantly more behavioral and mental health problems, and reported having more family members and more friends with problems, than nonattempters. A logistic regression showed that youths' substance use, behavior problems, family instability, and sex all helped to explain their suicide attempts. Most of the attempters made their first attempt by their midteens. One‐quarter made their latest attempt shortly before entering the shelter, and one‐fifth stated that they would still consider suicide. The great majority of attempts were not preplanned, but one‐third followed troubles or arguments at home and feelings of confusion and depression. Remarkably, half of the teenage suicide attempters never received any professional help following their attempt.