Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:1203-1206
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Prevalence of specific suicidal behaviors in a high school sample
JM Harkavy Friedman, GM Asnis, M Boeck and J DiFiore
Of 380 high school students who completed an anonymous survey concerned
with their experience with suicidal behavior, 60% reported that they had
thought about killing themselves. These thoughts varied with respect to
persistence and planfulness. Almost 9% reported that they had actually made
at least one attempt to kill themselves and over half of the suicide
attempters reported at least two attempts. Fewer than half of the
attempters reached the attention of mental health professionals. The data
on family history of suicidal behavior suggest that the suicidal ideators
and the suicide attempters represent overlapping groups.
