Identification of coping ideation and strategies preventing suicidality in a college-age sample

This study attempts to identify coping mechanisms relevant to the prevention of progressive lethality in suicidal behavior among youth. College students (N = 296) aged 18 to 24, self-identified as having no past suicidal ideation, mild ideation, severe ideation, or having attempted suicide, completed the Reasons for Living Inventory (Linehan, Goodstein, Nielson, & Chiles, 1983), a similarly derived instrument for age-specific coping cognitions, and a scale of coping strategies for diminishing suicidality. Discriminant functions analyses of the mean factor scores for each scale were used to assess the pertinence of various coping mechanisms among the 4 groups. Patterns of similarities and differences in mechanisms were identified.