Association between exposure to suicide and suicidality outcomes in youth.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ecological studies support the hypothesis that suicide may be "contagious" (i.e., exposure to suicide may increase the risk of suicide and related outcomes). However, this association has not been adequately assessed in prospective studies. We sought to determine the association between exposure to suicide and suicidality outcomes in Canadian youth.

Methods

We used baseline information from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth between 1998/99 and 2006/07 with follow-up assessments 2 years later. We included all respondents aged 12-17 years in cycles 3-7 with reported measures of exposure to suicide.

Results

We included 8766 youth aged 12-13 years, 7802 aged 14-15 years and 5496 aged 16-17 years. Exposure to a schoolmate's suicide

SUBMITTER: Swanson SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3707992 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature