First-time Suicide Attempters, Repeat Attempters, and Previous Attempters on an Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry Unit

Semistructured interviews were used to determine history of recent & previous suicidal behaviour among 225 adolescents admitted to an inpatient psychiatric facility in North Carolina. 27 first-time attempters, 32 repeat attempters, & 40 previously suicidal youth were compared with 126 nonsuicidal youth. Repeat & previous attempters both reported more depressive symptomatology & trait anxiety than nonsuicidal youths. Youths with a previous history of suicide attempts, but no recent attempts, evidenced more trait anger than all other groups. First-time attempters reported levels of distress intermediate to the other groups. Interventions should focus not only on immediate crisis resolution but also on ongoing coping strategies. (23 refs.)