Social support, life events, and behavioral characteristics of psychologically distressed adolescents at high risk for attempting suicide

Abstract

Differences in social support, behavioral characteristics and life events between four groups of adolescents were investigated, one group consisting of suicide attempters and depressed adolescents showing problematic psychological scores and high risk for attempting suicide, and three other groups with lower risk and other (combinations of) psychological characteristics. The high-risk group distinguished itself from the psychologically most "normal" group by reporting less support and understanding from siblings and relations outside the family, more changes in living situation (life-time), more changes in caretaker and physical abuse during childhood, more changes in living situation and sexual abuse during adolescence, and more siblings leaving home during the preceding year. On a behavioral level, they reported consuming more alcohol and running away more often. The only exception to this was support and understanding from other relations: high-risk adolescents experienced more, especially in the last year. A possible explanation is that these subjects, due to the turmoil in their families, relied more on persons outside their families. Differences between the high-risk group and the other two groups are described in terms of the relation between the dependent variables and the psychological characteristics. Implications for assessments in emergency rooms is discussed.