Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2012 Oct;41(10):1312-24. doi: 10.1007/s10964-012-9766-7. Epub 2012 May 6.
Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents, many of whom fail to disclose suicide concerns to adults who might help. This study examined patterns and predictors of help-seeking behavior among adolescents who seriously considered suicide in the past year. 2,737 students (50.9 % female, 46.9 % male; racial distribution 79.5 % Caucasian, 11.9 % Hispanic/Latino, and 3.6 % Black/African-American) from 12 high schools in rural/underserviced communities were surveyed to assess serious suicide ideation (SI) in the past year, disclosure of SI to adults and peers, attempts to get help, attitudes about help-seeking, perceptions of school engagement, and coping support. Help-seeking was defined as both disclosing SI to an adult and perceiving oneself as seeking help. The relationship between adolescents' help-seeking disclosure and (1) help-seeking attitudes and (2) perceptions of social resources was examined among suicidal help-seeking youth, suicidal non-help-seeking youth, and non-suicidal youth. Of the 381 (14 %) students reporting SI, only 23 % told an adult, 29 % sought adult help, and 15 % did both. Suicidal help-seekers were similar to non-suicidal peers on all measures of help-seeking attitudes and social environment perceptions. Positive attitudes about help-seeking from adults at school, perceptions that adults would respond to suicide concerns, willingness to overcome peer secrecy requests, and greater coping support and engagement with the school were associated with students' increased disclosure of SI and help-seeking. This study supports prevention strategies that change student norms, attitudes and social environments to promote help-seeking among adolescents with SI. Promising intervention targets include increasing students' perceptions of the availability and capability of adults to help them, and strengthening students' understanding of how existing resources can help them cope.
自杀是青少年死亡的主要原因之一，其中许多人未能向可能提供帮助的成年人透露自杀问题。本研究考察了过去一年中曾认真考虑过自杀的青少年寻求帮助的行为模式和预测因素。 来自农村/服务不足社区的 12 所高中的 2737 名学生（50.9％为女性，46.9％为男性；种族分布为 79.5％为白种人，11.9％为西班牙裔/拉丁裔，3.6％为黑种人/非裔美国人）接受了调查，以评估过去一年中严重的自杀意念（SI），向成年人和同龄人透露 SI，寻求帮助的尝试，对寻求帮助的态度，对学校参与度的看法以及应对支持。寻求帮助被定义为向成年人透露 SI 并认为自己正在寻求帮助。在有自杀倾向的寻求帮助的青少年，无自杀倾向的寻求帮助的青少年和无自杀倾向的青少年中，研究了青少年寻求帮助的披露与（1）寻求帮助的态度和（2）对社会资源的看法之间的关系。在报告 SI 的 381 名学生中（占 14％），只有 23％的学生告诉成年人，29％的学生寻求成年人的帮助，而 15％的学生同时做到了这两点。在寻求帮助的态度和社会环境认知方面，有自杀倾向的寻求帮助的青少年与无自杀倾向的同龄人相似。对学校成人寻求帮助的积极态度，对成年人会回应自杀问题的看法，克服对同伴秘密请求的意愿以及更多的应对支持和与学校的参与度与学生对 SI 的更多披露和寻求帮助有关。这项研究支持改变学生规范，态度和社会环境以促进有 SI 的青少年寻求帮助的预防策略。有前途的干预目标包括提高学生对成年人提供帮助的能力和意愿的认识，并增强学生对现有资源如何帮助他们应对的理解。
