The purpose of the study was to highlight the extent of teenage suicide/parasuicide in selected areas in the West Rand. An exploratory descriptive survey was used to determine the extent of teenage suicide/parasuicide, identify existing programmes for the prevention of suicide, determine the involvement of the community health nurses in such programmes and make recommendations for the development of suicide prevention programmes in areas where they do not exist. Structured interview schedules were used to collect data. The study was undertaken in various clinics in Gauteng Province. The study results suggest that suicide/parasuicide is a common occurrence amongst teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 24 years, suicide/parasuicide do not seem to be accurately recorded in most clinics, that community health nurses are not adequately involved in suicide prevention programmes and finally that available suicide prevention programmes are not fully utilised. Recommendations based on the findings are given. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

Includes vita. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 126 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Incidence of suicide has been shown to increase dramatically during adolescence. Despite an established pattern of depression and hopelessness leading to suicide in adults, no such pattern emerges in the adolescent literature. Recent investigations suggest that impulsivity may play a key role in adolescent suicide attempts. This study examined the role of impulsivity in adolescent suicidal gestures, as well as the relationships among demographic variables, anger expression, impulsivity, and suicidal behavior. A total of 100 participants (ages 11-17; 71 females and 29 males) were recruited from 2 inpatient crisis centers for children. The Children's Depression Inventory, Hopelessness Scale for Children, Adolescent Behavior Checklist, Pediatric Anger Expression Scale, and Suicide Intent Scale were administered to inpatients, and demographic information was obtained (age, gender, ethnicity, income, and structure of family). / ABSTRACT: It was hypothesized that patterns of depression, anger, hopelessness, and impulsivity would vary by age, gender, ethnicity, and suicidality (e.g., suicidal gesture vs. no gesture). The large majority of hypotheses were not supported. Results are explained in terms of alternative theories for the role of impulsivity in adolescent suicidal gestures. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of the study was to highlight the extent of teenage suicide/parasuicide in selected areas in the West Rand. An exploratory descriptive survey was used to determine the extent of teenage suicide/parasuicide, identify existing programmes for the prevention of suicide, determine the involvement of the community health nurses in such programmes and make recommendations for the development of suicide prevention programmes in areas where they do not exist. Structured interview schedules were used to collect data. The study was undertaken in various clinics in Gauteng Province. The study results suggest that suicide/parasuicide is a common occurrence amongst teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 24 years, suicide/parasuicide do not seem to be accurately recorded in most clinics, that community health nurses are not adequately involved in suicide prevention programmes and finally that available suicide prevention programmes are not fully utilised. Recommendations based on the findings are given. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

This creative personal essay examines the long-term effects of surviving a friend's adolescent suicide. The piece begins with the story of the narrator's suicide loss, and subsequently follows her on a quest to understand her grief. She explores cultural perceptions of suicide in America, such as the dialogue around suicide, suicide prevention objectives, the suicide survivor experience, suicide tourism, and media responses to suicide--all reflecting her relationship to the subject. In the end, the narrator returns to the place where her quest began, carrying the wisdom she has gleaned from her inquiries.

Thesis (MEd) -- Stellenbosch University, 1984. / In die loop van die afgelope aantal jare het die massamedia herhaaldelik - by wyse van koerantberigte, tydskrifartikels en aktualiteitsprogramme oor die radio en televisie - die verskynsel van selfmoord by volwassenes, adolessente en kinders onder die aandag gebring. Daar bestaan sterk aanduidings dat daar gedurende die afgelope aantal dekades wêreldwyd 'n beduidende toename in die voorkomssyfers van selfmoord en selfmoordpogings voorgekom het, en dat die syfers bo verwaging hoog kan wees.

Cette recherche s’intéresse à la façon singulière dont l’adolescent ou le jeune adulte suicidant se représente ses liens familiaux et extra-familiaux. Elle explore la façon dont ces jeunes s’inscrivent dans leur histoire familiale, se repèrent dans leur généalogie, mais aussi la façon dont ils construisent, dans le monde qui les entoure, leur réseau d’appartenance. Comprenant l’accès aux transmissions familiales et la possibilité de tisser un réseau de lien extra-familiaux, comme un élément capital de la construction identitaire, ce travail envisage l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’acte suicidaire de l’adolescent traduirait une revendication de l’unicité et de l’authenticité de son existence. L’intention de se faire exister serait plus prégnante que l’intention de se donner la mort. De telles conduites, à valeur ordalique, témoigneraient d’un affrontement avec le monde, dont l’enjeu serait de vivre plus. Elles amèneraient l’adolescent à s’imposer, inconsciemment, de frôler la mort pour se transformer, renaître, revivre après le traumatisme, pour enfin exister. A l’aide d’entretiens cliniques et d’outils d’évaluation systémique comprenant la réalisation de génogrammes libres et imaginaires, seize études de cas ont été réalisées. Ces données ont permis d’effectuer une analyse qualitative individuelle et groupale et, plus particulièrement une exploration familiale tri-générationnelle. Sans confirmer la valeur ordalique de la conduite suicidaire, nos résultas suggèrent que les jeunes rencontrés tentent de se faire exister en cherchant une enveloppe généalogique mais aussi affiliative, contenante au sein de laquelle ils se sentent inscrits et reconnus. Le sentiment d'appartenance qui permet la différenciation et qui donne sens à l’existence fait défaut chez tous. Ces résultats ouvrent une piste de réflexion sur la signification du geste suicidaire à l’adolescence: il s’agit d’une quête de sens, mais aussi de reconnaissance, qui passe par l’épreuve personnelle et le fait d’y survivre. <p> / Doctorat en Sciences Psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The purpose of this project was to explore perceptions of effective components in adolescent suicide prevention programs among San Bernardino school counselors. The stress model and the mental health model are the two models implemented in suicide prevention programs.

This study examined psychological, social, and cultural factors that can affect suicide risk among Mong/Hmong youth between the ages of 18 and 25. Emerging evidence suggests that Mong/Hmong youth are at an increased risk for suicide (Huang, Lee, & Arganza, 2004; Jesilow & Xiong, 2007). Additionally, initial findings and theories have suggested potential associations between Mong/Hmong youth suicide risk and intergenerational family conflict, ethnic identity, acculturation, depression, and spirituality. The seriousness of suicide risk among Mong/Hmong youth in this country has been overlooked for decades; therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine these associations with the hope that the findings would be beneficial in future efforts to reduce suicide risk among Mong/Hmong youth. This research was a cross-sectional exploratory study that used a purposive sampling method in addition to snowball sampling. The sample consisted of 165 Mong/Hmong youth between the ages of 18 and 25 from three California academic institutions. Results indicated that of 165 respondents, 59% (n=98) have had passing thoughts of suicide. There was a correlation between ethnic identity, intergenerational family conflict, depression, and spiritual beliefs. Furthermore, ethnic identity and intergenerational family conflict were significant predictors of depression. Lastly, depression and having a belief in Mong/Hmong traditional spiritual and healing practices were predictors of suicide risk among the sampled population. Two open-ended protective factor questions were explored to encourage participants to reflect on their resilience to suicide by sharing how they responded to thoughts of ending their life and what helped them to overcome those thoughts. Five themes were identified as protective factors: (1) having the cognitive ability to understand how death affects loved ones; (2) optimism and having a positive orientation toward the future; (3) connectedness with family, friends, and community; (4) having a sense of self-worth; and (5) a social life. Implications for social work practice and policy include the development, expansion and delivery of culturally appropriate mental health treatment services for young adults. This entails the incorporation of traditional Mong/Hmong mental health healing practices into western mental health treatment, ongoing clinical research to better understand the mental health needs of the Mong/Hmong young adult population, and educating and empowering the Mong/Hmong community to access the mental health system, thereby reducing the stigma associated with mental health and increasing access to treatment.

The present study compared the suicidal behaviour and related measures of adolescents in high school in Germany (N=318) and South Africa (N=299). Participants completed a series of self-report measures of the SPS (Suicide Probability Scale), PSS-Fa (Perceived Social Support From Family Scale), PSS-Fr (Perceived Social Support From Friends Scale), SIB (Scale Of Interpersonal Behaviour) and a number of demographic questions. Analyses were conducted using content analysis, correlation coefficients and logistic regression to determine variables related to previous suicide attempts, stepwise multiple regression to account for variables predicting currents suicidal risk; and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to examine differences among the groups and among suicide attempters and non-attempters. 36 German (11.3%) and 48 South African (16.1%) adolescents reported that they had made previous suicide attempts. German adolescents reported 45 (14.2%) suicide attempts in the family and 82 (25.8%) suicide attempts by friends. South African adolescents reported 43 (14.4%) suicide attempts in the family and 92 (30.7%) suicide attempts by friends. The following variables were associated with previous suicide attempts in the German sample: attempted suicide by friends, a life-threatening event, previous psychiatric contact, the death of a friend, low perceived family support, female gender, attempted suicide in the family, suicide of a friend, and low perceived friend support. The following variables were associated with previous suicide attempts in the South African sample: low perceived family support, death of a friend, attempted suicide by friends, female gender, a life-threatening event, previous psychiatric contact, suicide of friends, and attempted suicide in the family. The following variables for the German sample were found to be significant predictors of current suicidal risk: low perceived family and friend support, previous suicide attempts, suicide attempts in the family, a life-threatening event, suicide attempts of friends, suicide of friends, female gender, and previous psychiatric contact. The following variables for the South African sample were found to be significant predictors of current suicidal risk: previous suicide attempts, low perceived family and friend support, death of a friend, a life-threatening event, previous psychiatric contact, suicide attempts in the family, suicide of friends, and suicide attempts of friends. These findings show that suicidal behaviour is frequent in both countries. Suicidal deaths of friends and family is more prevalent in Germany, whereas religion or belief in god does not protect against suicide attempts in both countries. Results indicate that perceived support from family is a strong protective factor against suicide attempts. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)