The authors administered measures of depression, hopelessness, and
strength of suicidal intent to a sample of 112 suicide attempters. The
results for the 55 subjects diagnosed as depressive and admitted within 72
hours after their attempt were compared with results obtained by Minkoff
and associates using comparable measures. Contrary to the findings of the
earlier study, there was a lower correlation between hopelessness and
intent than between depression and intent. The authors suggest that
demographic differences between the two samples may provide explanations
for this descrepancy, in the that they reflect the presence or absence of
external societal supports that may influence the suicidogenic potential of
hopelessness.Abstract Teaser