[How adolecents experience the suicide of a friend: an exploratory study.]

The objective of this qualitative study was undertaken for a better understanding of the experiences of grieving adolescents following a peer suicide. Interviews were carried out with five adolescents whose friends committed suicide. The principal finding emerging from the data analysis, based on grounded theory, witnesses the following: for these adolescents, peer suicide is a difficult gesture to understand leading them to a quest of self-inquiry. When these adolescents learned of the suicide, they experienced turmoil characterised by a panoply of emotions. This state was followed by a series of questions to which the adolescents sought various responses. Despite a decline in these turbulent emotions, a process of questioning continued to discern the true reasons behind the suicide of their peer. Throughout the presentation of results, links are established with other studies.