Contrasts Between Young Males Dying by Suicide, Those Dying From Other Causes and Those Still Living: Observations From the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health

Arch Suicide Res. 2016 Jul 2;20(3):389-401. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2015.1104270. Epub 2016 Jan 11.

Abstract

Utilizing Add Health longitudinal data, we compared 21 male suicide casualties to 10,101 living respondents identifying suicide correlates.

Method: 21 suicide decedents completed surveys in 1994/1995 (Wave 1) and 11 completed at Wave 3; responses were compared with Chi-square and oneway ANOVA tests.

Results: Suicide decedents were prone to higher delinquency and fighting at Wave 1, but not at Wave 3. At Wave 1 suicide decedents remained undistinguished from living respondents in depression, self-esteem, and drug uses. Yet, after Wave 3, the 11 respondents dying by suicide showed significantly higher depression, drug use and lower self-esteem.

Conclusion: Delinquency trends can readily understood, but more complex causes are needed to account for unexpected changes in self-esteem, depression and drug uses.

Keywords: changing youth suicide correlates; male suicides; prospective study; youth suicide.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Cause of Death / trends
  • Depression* / complications
  • Depression* / diagnosis
  • Exposure to Violence / psychology*
  • Gender Identity*
  • Humans
  • Juvenile Delinquency / psychology*
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Psychological Techniques
  • Risk Factors
  • Self Concept*
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Substance-Related Disorders / psychology*
  • Suicide Prevention*
  • Suicide* / psychology
  • Suicide* / trends
  • United States