Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2021 Aug;51(4):807-815. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12774. Epub 2021 Jun 1.
Adolescence marks an important time to detect suicide risk, as suicidal ideation often emerges during this developmental period. Death-themed cognitions represent a promising domain of risk factors for suicidal ideation, but they have been understudied among adolescents. To address this knowledge gap, the present study examines the association between adolescents' attitudes and beliefs about death, hereafter referred to as death conceptualizations, and suicidal ideation.
Seventy-four adolescents (12-19 years) completed a self-report measure assessing three types of death conceptualizations: Death Avoidance (i.e., suppression of death-related thoughts), Neutral Acceptance (i.e., belief that death is a natural part of life), and Escape Acceptance (i.e., belief that death is a viable escape from pain). Suicidal ideation was assessed at baseline, as well as 3 and 6 months later.
At baseline, suicidal adolescents endorsed higher Escape Acceptance and lower Death Avoidance. Suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents did not differ in their degree of Neutral Acceptance. Death conceptualizations, especially Escape Acceptance, also predicted future suicidal ideation.
Initial findings suggest that suicidal adolescents are more likely to believe that death is a viable escape from pain and that this death-related cognition is a risk factor for suicidal ideation.
青春期是发现自杀风险的重要时期，因为自杀意念通常在此发育阶段出现。以死亡为主题的认知是自杀意念的一个有前途的危险因素领域，但在青少年中研究较少。为了解决这一知识空白，本研究探讨了青少年对死亡的态度和信念（以下简称死亡概念化）与自杀意念之间的关联。
74 名青少年（12-19 岁）完成了一份自我报告量表，评估了三种类型的死亡概念化：死亡回避（即抑制与死亡相关的想法）、中性接受（即相信死亡是生命的自然组成部分）和逃避接受（即相信死亡是逃避痛苦的可行途径）。自杀意念在基线时以及 3 个月和 6 个月后进行评估。
在基线时，有自杀意念的青少年更赞同逃避接受，而回避死亡的程度更高。有自杀意念和无自杀意念的青少年在中性接受程度上没有差异。死亡概念化，特别是逃避接受，也预示着未来的自杀意念。
初步研究结果表明，有自杀意念的青少年更有可能认为死亡是逃避痛苦的可行途径，而这种与死亡相关的认知是自杀意念的一个危险因素。
