title: Assessing African American adolescents' risk for suicide attempts: attachment theory.
abstract: The threat of separation from a parent theoretically increases the risk of adolescent suicide attempts. The present study evaluated this and other hypothesized risk factors in a sample of adolescent suicide attempters and nonsuicidal controls, using the Psychiatric Consultation Checklist (Lyon, 1987). Stepwise logistic regression was used to predict group membership. It was found that threat of separation from a parental figure, insomnia, neglect, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and failing grades were the strongest predictors of suicide attempt. Ten predictor variables correctly identified 97% of suicide attempters and 86% of nonattempters. Unexpected findings included high levels of truancy, threatening others, and separation from a parent before the age of 12 among nonattempters.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pediatrics and Young Adult Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, NW, Washington, DC 20010, USA.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Lyon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benoit
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Getson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Silber
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walsh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010553:Personality Development; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012951:Socialization; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology