Stress and Knowledge of Suicidal Others as Factors in Suicidal Behavior of High School Adolescents

This study explores adolescent beliefs about the causes of adolescent suicide & examines the influence of suicidal others on adolescents’ behavior. The author found that 23% of 474 high school students reported self-hurt behavior & 6.7% reported suicide attempts. “Too much pressure” was cited by 40% of the adolescents as a cause of suicide. Males & females had different views of the causes of suicide, as did those who knew someone who attempted suicide & those who did not. (VM)