Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Teen Boys Who Attempt Suicide More Likely to Abuse as Adults

Men who attempted suicide before age 18 are much more likely to abuse their girlfriends or wives, according to a study from the Oregon Social Learning Center in Eugene.

The U.S. study included 153 males from relatively high-crime neighborhoods who were assessed annually from ages 10 to 32. The men's romantic partners were added to the study when the men were aged 18 to 25. Researchers found that 58 percent of males who tried to kill themselves before age 18 went on to injure a girlfriend or wife, compared with 23 percent of males who didn't attempt suicide when they were youths.

The association between attempted suicide and later aggression toward partners remained even after the researchers controlled for a number of other factors, including aggression, depression, substance abuse and a family history of abuse. The study documented partner abuse through several types of data, including domestic violence arrest records, women's and men's accounts of injuries and live observations of couples.

The findings, published online in the journal Psychological Medicine, offer evidence of the need for intervention programs for suicidal teens, said study co-author David Kerr, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University (OSU).

"The study began when these men were kids, before anyone knew who was going to be violent," Kerr continued. That is quite different from research that starts with violent men, or women from a domestic violence shelter, and tries to look back in time for explanations."

Source: Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/640054.html

CDC Study: 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results

Since 1991, The U.S. Center for Disease Control has surveyed teens every two years in order to identify trends in risky adolescent behaviors. The results of the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey have just been released.

First, let's look at the percentages on some of the areas surveyed:

• Have had at least one drink of alcohol (during their life): 72.5%, down from 75% in 2007.
• Have had at least one drink within 30 days of the survey: 41.8%, down from 44.7% in 2007.
• Have had five or more drinks within a few hours, within 30 days of survey: 24.2%, down from 26% in '07.

• Have used marijuana at least once (during their life): 36.8%, down from 38.1% in 2007.
• Have used marijuana at least once within 30 days of the survey: 20.8%, up from 19.7% in 2007.

• Have tried cigarette smoking (during their life): 46.3%, down from 50.3% in 2007.
• Have smoked cigarettes at least once within 30 days of the survey: 19.5%, down from 20% in 2007.

• Have had sexual intercourse (during their life): 46%, down from 47.8% in 2007.
• Have had sexual intercourse with 4 or more persons (during their life): 13.8%, down from 14.9% in '07.
• Have had sexual intercourse within 30 days of the survey: 34.2%, down from 35% in 2007.
• Drank alcohol or used drugs before last sexual intercourse: 61.1%, down from 61.5% in 2007.

• Seriously considered attempting suicide during 12 months before survey: 13.8%, down from 14.5% in '07.
• Made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during 12 mos before survey: 10.9% down from 11.3% in '07.
• Attempted suicide during 12 mos before survey: 6.3%, down from 6.9% in 2007.

• Rarely or never wore a seat belt: 9.7%, down from 11.1% in 2007.
• Rode with a driver who had been drinking within 30 days of survey: 28.3%, down from 29.1% in 2007.
• Drove when drinking alcohol within 30 days of survey: 9.7%, down from 10.5% in 2007.

While on the surface it appears that there are broad, although slight decreases in at-risk behaviors, the study indicates that in terms of trends, most changes are statistically insignificant, amounting to "no change." The areas noted above where changes in trends were indicated were:

• Have had at least one drink within 30 days of the survey - decrease
• Have tried cigarette smoking (during their life) - decrease

To view the extensive overview of the report, click the source link below.

Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdf/us_overview_yrbs.pdf

Teen Suicides Prompt New Prevention Ad Campaign

A public service ad campaign launching today is designed to help troubled teenagers before it's too late.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds, following accidents and homicides, according to government data.

In an effort to reduce such tragedies, the government worked with the Ad Council and the Inspire USA Foundation to create "We Can Help Us," a national public service advertising campaign. It includes TV, radio and print PSAs as well as posters in schools and malls.

This campaign comes on the heels of a number of recent Associated Press reports of teen suicide:

•Phoebe Prince, 15, of South Hadley, Mass, hanged herself at home in January after experiencing a wave of severe taunting, bullying and physical threats by some fellow students in school and on Facebook.

•Marie Osmond's son Michael Blosil, 18, committed suicide in late February, jumping from the eighth floor of his apartment building in Los Angeles. He left a note in which he referred to his life-long battle with depression.

•Two sophomores from Norwood, Pa., died in an apparent suicide pact in February when they stood on train tracks and were killed by a high-speed Acela train.

•Six confirmed or suspected suicides have occurred this academic year at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-03-31-suicideprevention31_ST_N.htm

Teens, Parents Underestimate Teen Suicide Risk

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens, but teenagers and their parents underestimate the risk or think that it doesn't happen in their own communities, a new study shows.

Researchers conducted focus groups with parents and teens living in urban, suburban, or rural areas in an effort to better understand their attitudes and perceptions regarding adolescent suicide.

They found that parents and teenagers were able to identify many of the most common risk factors for suicide, including depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and relationship problems.

But both groups also tended to underestimate the risk in their own backyards, believing instead that it was a problem in other communities, says study researcher Kimberly A. Schwartz, MD, of UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center in Worcester, Mass.

In 2006, 1,771 children and teens between the ages of 10 and 19 committed suicide in the U.S. Teenage boys were four times as likely as teenage girls to die by suicide and they were also more likely to use guns and suffocation to kill themselves. Girls were more likely than boys to use pills.

Schwartz says many of the parents who participated in the focus groups expressed frustration about distinguishing between true warning signs of suicide and normal teen angst.

Both parents and teens wanted more information about how to identify and help at-risk teens.

The study appears in the February issue of Pediatrics.

Source: WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20100111/teens-parents-underestimate-teen-suicide-risk

End of Drop in U.S. Teen Suicide Rates Seen in Study

The suicide rate among U.S. teenagers stayed high for a second consecutive year in 2005, according to a study that suggested the fear of antidepressants may have curtailed use of the drugs.

While the rate of suicides fell 5.3 percent in 2005 from a year earlier, it remained higher than in 2003, when the number of teenagers killing themselves reached the low point of a steady eight-year decline, said researchers led by Jeff Bridge of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

From 1996 to 2003, the rate of suicides among boys and girls ages 10 to 19 fell 25 percent, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Then, in 2004, it jumped 14 percent. Researchers said warnings that antidepressants had been linked to suicides in teenagers and young adults may have reduced the use of the medicines.

"We wanted to answer the question: Was 2004 an anomaly?'' said Bridge, an investigator at the Columbus hospital. The answer, Bridge concluded, is no.

Source: Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aur5tn0uk9nQ&refer=us