A cross-country comparison of male youth suicide & youth attitudes found a strong positive correlation between suicide rates among young males & subjective measures of health, optimism, & personal control or freedom. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between suicide rates & a range of other possibly relevant attitudes including acceptance of suicide, national pride, & the importance of God. Questions which arose from these results were discussed in this presentation. Findings were used as the basis of a broad sociocultural perspective on suicide & other psychosocial disorders in young people.