Informant-Specific Correlates of Suicidal Behavior in a Community Survey of 12- to 14-Year-Olds

• NCJ Number: 195418
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 41 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2002 Pages: 723-730
• Author(s): Jean-Jacques Breton; Michel Tousignant; Lise Bergeron; Claude Berthiaume
• Date Published: June 2002
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This Canadian study analyzed the extent and nature of discrepancies between the reports of young adolescents and those of their parents concerning individual, family, and socioeconomic correlates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in early adolescence.

Abstract

The weighted sample from the Quebec Child Mental Health Survey conducted in 1992 included 825 adolescents, aged 12- to 14-years-old, and their parents. The adolescent and one parent were questioned by two interviewers. The response rate was 80.3 percent. Three categories of independent variables were assessed: adolescent, family, and socioeconomic characteristics. Logistic regression models were based on the adolescent and parent informant reports. Parents identified 6 of the 59 adolescents as having reported suicidal ideation, and 2 of the 36 adolescents as having attempted suicide. Two informant-specific models of correlates of suicidal behavior were found. The adolescent model included internalizing and externalizing mental disorders, family stressful events, and parent-adolescent relationship difficulties. The parent model included perceiving a need for help for the adolescent, parent's depressive disorder, and parent-adolescent relationship difficulties. The study shows the relevance of documenting informant-specific correlates of suicidal behavior in the development of research and interventions that target juveniles' suicidal behavior. First, an in-depth evaluation of the nature and extent of relationship difficulties between adolescents and their parents would be an important step in the planning of the treatment of a suicidal adolescent. Second, parents should be informed about the association of mental disorders with suicidal behavior in their children. Third, adolescents and parents would both benefit from interventions in which the meaning of major family stressful events would be discussed and shared to reach a better appraisal of the consequences of these events on the well-being of each family member. 3 tables and 40 references