Suicide is a serious problem in adolescence and is presently the third most common cause of death in this age group.
The specific aims of this study are to provide follow-up (F.U.) information on severity of suicidal thoughts and actions of 106 psychiatric inpatinets and 101 non-patient controls, who were 6-12 years old when they were initially evaluated with an extensive battery of research instruments 6-8 years ago. This is a unique sample of preadolescents because there are no systematic follow-up studies of suicidal preadolescents or adolescents who were directly interviewed with standardized instruments at initial and follow-up time. Thirty-four percent of the inpatients attempted suicide. The most common DSM III diagnoses of the inpatients were conduct (39.6%), major depressive (21.7%), and dysthymic (20.8%) disorders. The hypotheses are: 1) preadolescent suicidal ideation and acts are positively associated with adolescent suicidal ideation and acts, adolescent affective disorders, and adolescent poor social adjustment; 2) expression of suicidal ideation and/or acts at F.U. will be related to past severity of a) suicidal ideation and acts, b) depressive symptoms, c) alcohol and drug abuse after the initial assessment, d) violent, impulsive and/or assaultive behaviors; and the presence of affective disorder, suicidal and/or violent behavior in the family; 3) there will be significant associations between the diagnoses of affective disorders and presence of poor social adjustment at the time of F.U. with the presence of suicidal ideation and/or acts at F.U. The inpatients and non-patients, who were matched for age, sex, race/ethnicity and social status have a mean age at F.U. of 17 years (range 12-22 years). Evaluation instruments at F.U.: 1) Child Suicide Potential Scales, 2) Kiddie-SADS, 3) Social Adjustment Inventory for Children and Adolescents, 4) Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist and Profile, 5) Beck Depression Inventory, 6) Children's Depression Inventory 7) Beck Hopelessness Scale, 8) Children's Hopelessness Scale, 9) Coddington Social Readjustment Rating, 10) SADS, 11) Family History-RDC. This study should provide useful information to: 1) improve diagnosis and early recognition of suicidal children and adolescents, 2) plan intervention for suicidal children and adolescents, 3) predict future suicidal behavior.
| Herrera, Angelica P; Meeks, Thomas W; Dawes, Sharron E et al. (2011) Emotional and cognitive health correlates of leisure activities in older Latino and Caucasian women. Psychol Health Med 16:661-74 |
