Heterogeneity of Suicidal Adolescents

One hundred twenty adolescents who were divided into three groups: 40 hospitalized suicidal adolescents (first time attempters); 40 hospitalized nonsuicidal adolescents; and 40 never-hospitalized nonsuicidal adolescents from an outpatient psychiatric clinic. Comparisons of the three groups revealed no significant differences in age, race, social class, type of peer and family relationship and academic achievement. Similarly, clinical diagnoses on Axis I and Axis II (DSM-III) failed to differentiate between the suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents. It appears that, in order to predict the suicidal potential of an adolescent, more attention needs to be paid to the “coping style” of the adolescent under stressful situations. Most suicidal adolescents in this study experienced a great difficulty in coping with their angry and sad feelings. They also manifested a diminished capacity to think through the consequences of their actions.