Demographic predictors of treatment attendance among adolescent suicide attempters

The relationship between age and gender and treatment attendance was prospectively examined among a consecutive series of 143 adolescent emergency room attendees referred for outpatient therapy after a suicide attempt. Consistent with previous reports, nonadherence was high. Over 40% of patients had their cases terminated because of nonattendance; on average, however, patients received almost 6 sessions of treatment and 91% attended at least 1 therapy session. Adolescents terminated from treatment for nonadherence were significantly older than those completing treatment. Younger male patients were scheduled for significantly more therapy sessions than older male patients and kept significantly more scheduled sessions than did older male and female patients. Vigorous case-tracking procedures may have a significant impact on treatment attendance. Nevertheless, therapists must design strategies to increase treatment adherence among older adolescent, especially male, patients.