Family Support and Other Social Factors Precipitating Suicidal Ideation

This paper examines the effects of the college environment, family support, & demographics on older adolescents’ suicidal behaviours. 385 adolescent undergraduates completed a demographic questionnaire & the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire. 16% of respondents described themselves as serious ideators, while 59% were seen as ideators. Women indicated having more suicidal thoughts than did men. The type of caregiver a person reported having while growing up accounted for a significant amount of the variance on ideator status. Serious ideators were more common among single parent households. Results suggest suicidal behaviours may occur due to a complex interaction between social factors & childhood care.