Recruiting Urban Latina Adolescents and Their Families: Challenges and Lessons Learned in Suicide Attempts Research

The challenges & solutions in recruiting urban adolescent Latinas who had attempted suicide are described. Procedures for recruitment & participant protection were established but logistic obstacles emerged – program directors failed to support the research, therapists were slow to identify subjects & to meet inclusionary criteria, numbers of prospective participants were lower than originally calculated, girls & parents were hard to reach, & interview appointments were missed. Solutions included using fewer agencies, doing better participant surveillance, monitoring staff participation, & building rapport & relationships with staff. (17 refs.)