Author/Editor		Marušič, Andrej; Roškar, Saška; Hughes, Roderick H
Title		Familial study of suicidal behavior among adolescents in Slovenia
Type		članek
Source		Crisis
Vol. and No.		Letnik 25, št. 2
Publication year		2004
Volume		str. 74-7
Language		eng
Abstract		The number of adolescents who attempt or complete suicide is increasing. Risk factors range from mental disorders, to problems at school, family problems, or difficulties in establishing relationships. A further important, and too often underestimated, risk factor for adolescent suicide is the presence of suicidal behavior in the adolescents family. We investigated 184 high school adolescents in a region in Slovenia with a high suicide rate (30/100,000/year). They were questioned by means of an anonymous questionnaire about the presence of suicidal behavior in their relatives and about the presence of suicidal thoughts, plans, and acts in themselves. The results revealed that 13% of the adolescents studied had a telative who had attempted suicide and a further 9% of the adolescents had lost a relative due to suicide. About half of all females and almost a third of males had had suicidal thoughts (differences between sexes were statistically significant: x2=6.13;p<.01). Attempted suicide among relatives was positively correlated with the presence of suicidal plans adolescents (fi=0.15;p<.05). This correlation proved to be even stronger and statistically more significant in men when split the sample by gender. All variables (suicidal thoughts, suicidal plans, and suicide attempts) in the adolescent males positively correlated with attempted suicide among their relatives (fi=0.28, p<.01; fi=0.26, p<.05; fi=0.34, p<.01; respectively). Our results speak in favor of a higher risk of suicidal behavior among adolescents with suicidal behavior in their families.
Descriptors		ADOLESCENT BEHAVIOR SUICIDE, ATTEMPTED ADOLESCENCE QUESTIONNAIRES SLOVENIA