Risk factors associated with completed suicide in Latino adolescents

This is the first study to explore potential psychosocial risk factors associated with completed suicide among Latino adolescents in the U.S. The sample (N = 14) included all the Latino adolescents aged 13 to 19 who committed suicide in Miami, Florida between January, 1988 and June, 1989. Data were derived from the medical examiner's records, family interviews, and a questionnaire completed by the school counselors of the victims and of an equal number of randomly selected Latino nonsuicidal matched-pair controls; t-tests were used to determine the significance of differences between victims and controls on the psychosocial risk variables explored. The victims had experienced significantly more school, personality, behavioral, and family stressors than had the controls. Implications for research and for suicide prevention are discussed.