Family and psychosocial characteristics of adolescents with suicide attempt: data from a clinical population study

Introduction: For various reasons, systematic study of suicidal behaviour among Greek adolescents remains limited.Aim: To investigate the family and other psycho-social characteristics of adolescent suicide attempters within the rapidly changing socio-cultural context.Population: Patients referred to our Unit after admission for attempted suicide. Up to date, 160 adolescents (16.3% males and 83.7% females), aged 12-19 (mean age 15.14) have been included in our study.Method: As part of a larger continuing research on attempted suicide among adolescents, the present study focuses on family and psycho-social parameters. Through the use of a specifically designed protocol, recorded data are codified and stored in the SPSS for statistical treatment.Results: By order of frequency of appearance, the recorded parameters are: severe dysfunction or impairment of family context (60.6%), school failure/drop (58.1%), adolescent-parent conflict (53.8%), residential changes (52.5%), family schemes other than “intact family” (39.4%), mental health problems among family members (38.1%), disappointment from peer relationships (35.6%), somatic illness among family members (32.5%), cultural particulars (27%), parents’ separation/divorce (25%), followed by other less frequent but not necessarily less important parameters.Conclusions: While confirming some steadily present parameters, our study reveals newly emerging ones, reflecting changes in the family structure and in the wider socio-cultural context, which should be addressed and studied more systematically