Collected data on suicide attempts and thoughts about suicide and death from nearly 10,000 students between ages 14 and 20 in Netherlands. Found 3.3 percent of girls and 1.3 percent of boys reported having attempted suicide. Youngest students already reported as many attempts as oldest students. Differences between genders and between types of…

Surveyed 1,131 university freshmen. Found subjects able to recognize suicidal behavior in peers but unsure of how to respond helpfully. Model of self-efficacy, emotional comfort, knowledge of helpful response, and knowledge of suicidal behavior predicted student's intention to ask suicidal peer directly, "Are you thinking about killing yourself?"…

Psychiatric outpatients (N=211) reported evidence of unresolved grief. Incidence of unresolved grief was greatest among patients who had lost children and lowest among patients who had lost parents. Unresolved grief was associated with increased intensity of affective symptomatology; past histories of depression, suicide attempts, and alcohol…

Critically reviews anecdotal reports and ongoing research on suicide. Describes ongoing studies which use psychological autopsies of cluster outbreaks and statistical analyses of time and space clustering of suicides. Concludes that both anecdotal case reports and epidemiologic research suggest that significant time-space clustering of suicide…

Describes suicide in 17-year-old boy. Uses extracts from interview with his mother to illustrate his violent behavior, delinquency, relationships with family and peers, efforts to seek treatment, and clues he gave to his impending suicide. His lifestyle and subsequent suicidal behavior are related to his middle-born sibling position. (Author)

Explored suicidal behavior in 291 adolescents using runaway shelters in St. Louis. Found 30 percent of runaways reported having attempted suicide in past. Suicide attempters had significantly more behavioral and mental health problems, and reported having more family members and more friends with problems, than nonattempters. Substance use,…

Compared overall rates of completed suicide between Israel and selected European and North American countries. Found that rates for Israel were generally lower. Also compared suicide among different national-religious groups in Israel. Found rates were higher for Jews than for Muslim minority. Attempts to explain findings. (Author/NB)

Examined effectiveness of suicide awareness curriculum presented to 73 college undergraduates and assessed two methods of instruction: lectures plus handouts or handouts only. Univariate analyses demonstrated significant treatment effects for all dependent measures: Suicide Intervention Response Inventory, Knowledge of Suicide Test, Suicide…

Learning-disabled students may have some characteristics that make them particularly vulnerable to suicide. This article describes common misconceptions about suicide, discusses danger signs indicative of suicide risk, outlines steps in crisis intervention, and lists suggested information pamphlets and films. (JDD)

Addresses problem of adolescent suicide by developing five stages (suicidal signs, establishing rapport, making referral, constructive actions, and self-management) that may be used to help adolescents in distress. Uses five stages in case study to demonstrate the roles played by teacher, friend, and parents in helping adolescent through a crisis.…

Explores the use of group counseling as one intervention strategy for dealing with suicidal adolescents. Presents the scope of adolescent suicide; explores resistance to starting groups for suicidal adolescents; and discusses counselor characteristics, group composition, appropriate group goals, and techniques appropriate for use with this…

Examined drug and alcohol use and social background to determine their relationship to adolescent suicide attempts. Survey of 2,690 adolescents revealed that young women, farm residents, and in general, drug users were more likely to report suicide attempt. Women who were frequent alcohol users and heavy users of marijuana were more prone to…

High school classmates wrote a play, "Empty Chairs," as a classroom assignment. The play has won national acclaim for its powerful message of the tragedy and futility of suicide. A videotape of the play is available and is currently being shown by schools and other organizations across the nation. (MLF)

Examined the impact of completed suicide on the surviving family, comparing widows (N=13) whose husbands had died through suicide to widows (N=13) whose husbands had died in accidents. Found suicide survivors showed no more family dysfunction, life stress, or psychiatric symptomatology than accident survivors. (Author/ABL)

Explored relationship between participation of married women in labor force and suicide and homicide rates in United States. Found women's labor force participation related to homicide rates, with homicide rates higher in states where greater percentage of married women worked full-time. Suicide rates were more strongly related to indices of…