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The Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology and Suicidal Behavior in School‐Based Adolescents
Author(s) -
Mazza James J.
Publication year - 2000
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.2000.tb01069.x
Subject(s) - suicidal ideation , psychology , clinical psychology , depression (economics) , psychopathology , multilevel model , psychiatry , suicide attempt , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , medical emergency , machine learning , computer science , economics , macroeconomics
This study investigated the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and suicidal behavior, specifically suicidal ideation and suicide attempt history, while controlling for depression and gender in 106 adolescents in an urban high school. Participants completed self‐report measures of the Adolescent Psychopathology Scales‐Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Subscale (APS‐PTS), the APS‐Suicide Attempt History (APS‐SAH), the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire‐Junior (SIQ‐JR), and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS). Analyses were conducted using a hierarchical multiple regression design to account for the relationship between PTSD symptomatology and depression. Regression results showed that after controlling for depression and gender, PTSD symptomatology was significantly related to suicidal ideation and showed a trend toward suicide attempt history. In addition, adolescents with high levels of PTSD symptomatology were more likely than peers with “average” levels of PTSD symptomatology to be currently thinking about suicide and to have made a past suicide attempt. These findings show that PTSD symptomatology has a unique relationship to adolescent suicidal behavior that cannot be explained by depression or gender. The importance of these results and their implications for future research are discussed.