[Family ecology, social networks and suicidal behavior in the school milieu]

This article sums up the outcome of a research project conducted in Montreal schools in 1987 and 1988, and focusing on how family ecology and social networks relate to strong suicidal tendencies among teenagers. Two groups were involved in the study: one with 78 suicidal persons, the other with 72 non-suicidal persons. Teenagers in each group were interviewed separately. All subjects reported high lack of attention from at least one of the two parents. Results also show that parents of suicidal teens experience permanent break-ups less frequently in comparison to the other group. However, families of suicidal teens tend to experience deeper changes in the structure of the family unit following an initial separation. With respect to moving, there are no significant differences, whether in the number of moves or the important people, have access to as many different kinds of support and report the same number of conflicts. In all these comparisons, however, suicidal teenagers do name a proportionately higher number of adults. This leads the authors to hypothesize that a higher rate of parental separation among non-suicidal teens could represent a protective factor rather than a vulnerability factor, as is usually suggested. In terms of social networks, the fact that suicidal teens seek out adults to a greater degree could impede on their socializing with peers and, therefore, on their social integration.