Drug abuse, hopelessness, and suicidal behavior.
This study focused on assessing variables which may differentiate suicidal drug abusers from nonabusers. Data from a sample of drug abusing (n = 86) and nonabusing (n = 298) suicide attempters were subjected to a stepwise multiple regression analysis to identify factors related to suicidal intent. The analysis revealed that in our sample of suicide attempters, drug abuse status was not a significant contributor to the severity of suicidal intent. However, it was found that hopelessness accounted for a significant proportion of the variance of intent. The findings suggest that hopelessness among drug abusers, an important determinant of suicidal behavior, presents an important target for therapeutic intervention.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*