Adolescent suicide attempters. Response to suicide-prevention programs.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Adolescent Health

Background:

• Suicide attempts among adolescents are a significant public health concern.
• Effective suicide-prevention strategies are crucial for this demographic.
• Understanding adolescent attitudes towards suicide and help-seeking is vital for intervention development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of three suicide-prevention curricula in high school students.
• To compare the attitudes towards suicide and help-seeking between adolescent attempters and nonattempters.
• To assess adolescent reactions to suicide-prevention programs.

Main Methods:

• A controlled evaluation involving 1438 ninth and 10th-grade students.
• Comparison of attitudes between 63 adolescent attempters and 910 nonattempters.
• Assessment of program reactions by comparing attempters and nonattempters exposed to the curricula.
• Impact assessment by comparing exposed attempters with a control group of attempters.

Main Results:

• Self-identified attempters were less likely to align with the curricula's views at baseline.
• Limited evidence suggests the programs successfully influenced attempters' views.
• Adolescent attempters exposed to the programs reported greater distress compared to nonattempters.
• Self-reported suicide attempt prevalence was higher than in studies using interview methods.

Conclusions:

• The evaluated suicide-prevention curricula showed limited efficacy in altering attitudes among adolescent attempters.
• Adolescent attempters may experience heightened emotional responses to suicide-prevention content.
• Self-report measures may capture a higher prevalence of suicide attempts in adolescents compared to interview-based studies.