Social skills and depression in adolescent suicide attempters

The relationship among depression, social skills, and suicidal behavior was examined in a sample of 41 adolescents hospitalized in a general medical setting following a suicide attempt. These subjects were compared to 40 nonsuicidal psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Level of depression, assessed using the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and social skills, assessed via the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY), were evaluated for all subjects. The suicide attempters and psychiatrically hospitalized patients were not found to differ on either the CDI or MESSY. However, multiple regression analyses revealed the factor scores of the MESSY to be related to depression in both patient groups. The data provide support for the relationship between social skills and depression. Results are also discussed in terms of the similarities between adolescent suicide attempters and nonsuicidal psychiatrically disturbed adolescents.