We matter too! Suicidal thoughts and behaviors among youth at a therapeutic day school

Résumé

The general population of youth in therapeutic day schools typically possess a variety of risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, yet these behaviors have not been well researched among this population. The goal of this dissertation research was to investigate and compare these behaviors among this high-risk population to the national average and to investigate possible extrinsic, intrinsic, and neuropsychological mediating factors in order help improve future prevention and screening methods. Twelve students at a suburban therapeutic day school were accessed for suicidal thoughts and behaviors over the last 12 months using the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Additional measures of adverse childhood experiences, self-compassion, self-efficacy, and archival intellectual functioning data were also collected. Results indicated significantly more therapeutic day school students felt hopeless for two or more weeks than national, state, and local populations. Students who endorsed making a suicide plan had lower Self-kindness and Common Humanity as measured by the Self-Compassion Scale. Students who endorsed hopelessness, considered suicide, or made a suicide plan had significantly higher general self-efficacy, as measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Additional analyses revealed that the frequency of an ACE score of four, as measured by the Adverse Childhood Experience Survey, was significantly higher than the original ACE Study population. ÉTATS-UNIS ADOLESCENT IDÉATION TENTATIVE FACTEUR-RISQUE FACTEUR-PROTECTION NEUROPSYCHOLOGIE ÉVÉNEMENT-VIE SONDAGE YOUTH-RISK-BEHAVIOR-SURVEY