A new study showed that poorer environments make for more suicide attempts

Oct 27, 2008 04:55 GMT  ·  By
Depressions and a hostile environment account for most teenager suicides every year
   Depressions and a hostile environment account for most teenager suicides every year

Psychologists say that the network of environmental factors that cause more and more teenagers to commit suicide is far more complex than anyone thought. They base their say on a new scientific study that revealed the important role neighborhoods play in influencing adolescents to develop suicidal thoughts. Daily violence and hyperactivity influence their minds to a great extent and the lack of serious bonds cause some of them to think about taking their own lives, or even do it.

 

The Universite de Montreal and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, in Canada, conducted the newest survey on some 2770 test subjects who were sampled from a larger study, the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The researchers followed poverty levels in the teenagers' surroundings over the course of their early- and mid-adolescence, accounting for the thoughts these factors induced into their minds. A similar, broader study was also conducted in the U.S., on the general population.

 

When most of the participants to the study were 18 or 19, they were asked if they ever thought of suicide or attempted it over the course of the past year. Those who lived in poorer neighborhoods were found to be four times more likely to think about, or commit suicide than adolescents living in wealthier communities. Behavior experts found out that exposure to daily violence plays a crucial role in forming the teenagers' thought patterns.

 

Also, those who personally knew other teenagers who had killed themselves reported a more likely tendency to end their own lives as well. Drug use and low social support were also linked to the adolescents' feelings of insecurity and lack of compassion. Experts say that, in some neighborhoods, the need for affection is considered a sign of weakness and that children who need love from others are often regarded as weak and are persecuted or excluded from groups or gangs.

 

"This is the first study to examine the independent role of neighborhood disadvantage as a risk factor in adolescent suicidal behaviors. Our study suggests that to be effective, intervention and prevention efforts must reach vulnerable adolescents living in disadvantaged communities," explained Éric Lacourse, professor of sociology at Universite de Montreal, who was also the lead author of the new study.