Presents case of Tillie, 36-year-old female office manager of law firm who committed suicide by jumping off balcony in her home in presence of co-workers. Douglas Jacobs from Harvard Medical School and David Jobes from the Catholic University of America discuss case and role of consultant called in to help co-workers deal with impact of this…

Explored covert mental representations and interactional context of dependence in suicidal women (n=19) and their nonsuicidal male partners. Suicidal women and their partners were similar in terms of covert dependence and different with regard to overt behavior. Male partners tended to foster dependence in suicidal women. Most suicidal women did…

Examined impact of Catholicism on suicide in two socioculturally different regions of Louisiana. Analysis of county suicide rates revealed no evidence for contextual effect. Catholicism did not reduce suicide in historically French Catholic, southern region, nor did it increase suicide in historically Anglo-Saxon, Protestant northern region.…

Discusses study that explores paradigm for analyzing suicide prevention by means of a coding frame. The study demonstrates that suicide prevention can be differentiated at the operational level by means of the analysis method generated. Findings can also be interpreted according to theoretical criteria. Views expressed by psychologists seem to…

Investigates 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. PTSD symptomatology was significantly related to suicidal ideation and showed a trend…

School districts in Washington State were surveyed for information on the prevalence of suicide programs and on major roadblocks to implementing programs. Results show that the majority of school districts did not have suicide programs, policies or procedures. The largest perceived roadblock was insufficient staff and the greatest perceived need…

Objective: To compare the efficacy of a skills-based treatment protocol to a supportive relationship therapy for adolescents after a suicide attempt. Method: Thirty-nine adolescents (12-17 years old) and parents who presented to a general pediatric emergency department or inpatient unit of a child psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt were…

Objective: To provide a national description of suicide screening practices in juvenile residential facilities and to examine their association with whether facilities experience a suicide attempt. Method: Multivariate modeling with data from the 2000 Juvenile Residential Facility Census (n = 3690 facilities). Results: Controlling for facility…

Although the debate about whether an individual with a life-threatening illness should have the right to hasten his or her death continues, few researchers have examined why someone might consider such an option. This study examined factors that contribute to consideration of hastening death among people with life-threatening illnesses. A…

We created a classroom activity to illustrate factors that may predict suicide. In the activity, students rank 4 fictional individuals in terms of their relative risk for attempting or committing suicide. Students described the activity as "eye-opening," and students who participated in the activity learned more about the warning signs of an…

In this study we examined adolescent risk behaviors, giving special attention to suicide ideation. Cluster analysis was used to classify adolescents ( N = 2,730) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Six clusters of adolescent risk behavior were identified. Although each risk cluster was distinct, some clusters shared overlapping risk behaviors.…

Data on 153 youth suicides in Arizona (1994?1999) were used to explore demographic, behavioral, and experiential factors that distinguish between firearm suicide and suicide by other means. In bivariate analyses, White youths were more likely than non-White youths to use a firearm to commit suicide as were youths who had not experienced a life…

This study investigates the impact of suicidality on treatment outcome in 107 depressed adolescents who participated in a clinical trial, and received either cognitive-behavioral (CBT), systemic-behavioral-family (SBFT), or non-directive-supportive therapy (NST). Suicidal depressed adolescents had a higher dropout rate and were more likely to be…

Even 200 years following the conclusion of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, questions remain about whether Meriwether Lewis' death was a suicide. The purpose of this article is to consider this issue by examining historical evidence from a psychological perspective. A risk factor model for suicide assessment (Sanchez, 2001) is employed to evaluate…

Research indicates that mental health social workers risk being confronted with fatal and nonfatal client suicidal behaviors during professional practice. Although reactions to client suicidal behavior have been documented, there is little empirical evidence about coping behaviors and available supports following client suicidal behavior. This…