Teen Suicide Bibliography

Everall, R. D., & Paulson, B. L. (2001). The teen suicide research project. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 47(1), 91.

Everall and Paulson (2001) investigated the processes of becoming suicidal and overcoming the suicidal occurrences among teenagers by researching the perceptions of the subjects about their experiences of suicidal thoughts, feelings, and actions and the effective counseling interventions. The study aimed at enhancing the understanding of suicidal process among youth and to improve the knowledge base of the practicing counsellors. The research used structured interviews methodology with 10 participants who had been reported suicidal in their teenage however, they were also required to have been free of suicidal thoughts for at least 6 months. This qualitative investigation collected information on the subjects’ perceptions about what were major contributors to their suicidal attempt, how they overcame the feeling of act of suicide, and what intervention activities helped rectify their suicidal behaviors. Major reasons contributing to becoming suicidal included divorce, death, difficulty at school, continuous and multiple stress factors, lack of social support, and negative teachers’ reactions. Effective interventions to overcome the situation included supportive teachers’ reactions, being listened to and accepted despite their difficulties, and developing feelings of self-efficacy. However the authors suggest that the research will consider more participants for investigations in order to further establish its findings. This source is significant to study the behavior and effective interventions required to overcome the suicidal attempts among youth.

Wilburn, V. R., & Smith, D. E. (2005). Stress, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation in late adolescents. Adolescence, 40(157), 33.

Wilburn and Smith (2005) collected data collected from 88 students at a human sciences college in Southern United States using, “the Life Experiences Survey”, “the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale”, and “the Suicidal Ideation” scales. Sample included 79 females and 9 males. However the age slot that they studied included subjects aging 18 to 34 years with a mean age of 21 years. The purpose of the study was to find whether self-esteem moderates the impact of life stressors on suicidal ideation. Statistical analysis of the collected data found that self-esteem had a significant relationship with suicidal ideation due to life stressors. The major finding was that self-esteem moderates the effect of life stressors on suicidal ideation. This study in very significant to find the impact of life stressors contributing to suicidal ideation and its relationship to the level of self-esteem among youth and the results can be positively used by enhancing the self-esteem among youth in order to control the suicidal behaviors among them.

Nock, M. K., Joiner, T. E., Gordon, K. H., Lloyd-Richardson, E., & Prinstein, M. J. (2006). Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: Diagnostic correlates and relation to suicide attempts. Psychiatry research, 144(1), 65-72.

Nock, Joiner, Gordon, Lloyd-Richardson, and Prinstein (2006) analyzed a series of case studies to report on the correlations of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and suicide attempts among adolescents using clinical interviews data with 89 participants admitted to an adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit. The results showed that among adolescents under study who were engaged in Non-Suicidal Self Injury, an overall 70% of lifetime suicide attempt of which included 55% reporting multiple attempts were observed. The study noted longer history of NSSI, use of different methods, and absence of pain in self-injury were associated strongly with making suicide attempts. The study is significant because it establishes the relationship between self-injury and the likelihood of suicide attempts among teens.

Bearman, P. S., & Moody, J. (2004). Suicide and friendships among American adolescents. American journal of public health, 94(1), 89-95.

Bearman and Moody (2004) analyzed data of 13465 adolescents to investigate the relationship between friendships and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among male and female adolescents while controlling the known factors contributing to suicidality. The data used in this research was taken from National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. The study found that suicide of a friend increased the probability of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among boys and girls. Social isolation among females was found to be another factor inducing suicidal thoughts. This study is significant in the teenage suicide research since it provides further factors associated with close friends’ networks impacting the suicidal behavior among teenagers.