The poetry of adolescents in despair may provide us with early signs of suicide; hence referral to professional help may result at an early stage. In analyzing words used in suicidal and nonsuicidal and adolescent's poetry, significant differences were found. Differences showed themselves in the vigor and intensity of loaded words in the suicide…

Female college students reporting a history of childhood sexual abuse and not reporting a history of childhood sexual abuse were compared on indices of six self-destructive behaviors, including drug use, alcohol abuse, binge eating, self-mutilation, risky sex, and suicidality. The CSA group had significantly higher mean scores on all the indices…

Studied the reliability and validity of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) with 443 adolescents with Substance Use Disorder and adolescents with anxiety disorder. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that a three-factor model fit the data better than a two-factor model. Discusses other findings, which indicate the STAIC is…

Study assesses self-destructive behavior in a group of inpatients who have dissociative disorders compared to those who report few dissociative symptoms. Results reveal that these patients more frequently engage in self-destructive behaviors, use more methods of self-injury, and begin to injure themselves at an earlier age then patients who do not…

This study surveyed school counselors in 129 high schools to examine factors in student suicidal behaviors. Of 40,805 students, 42 suicide-related events were reported, 8 of which involved gifted students. None was a completed suicide. Variables such as sex, race, family status, extracurricular activity, and nature of the attempt were considered.…

Double blind study compared effects of two drug treatments, naloxone hydrochloride and naltrexone hydrochloride, on self-injurious behavior of a 12-year-old mentally retarded and autistic girl. Self-injury increased with naloxone treatment but decreased to near zero with naltrexone, a change which persisted at follow-up 22 months after treatment.…

Describes an intervention package for suicidal children and adolescents, the structure and content of which is based on insights gained from previous research studies and extensive clinical practice. Essential features of the package, which is currently the focus of a major controlled evaluative study, are that it is short-term, focused,…

Administered Chronic Self-Destructiveness Scale (CSDS) and Psychopathic Deviate and Hypomania scales of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to 112 delinquent adolescents and to 141 high school students. Both male and female delinquents reported significantly higher levels of chronic self-destructiveness than did students.…

Analysis of the reinforcement and extinction components of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) of three women with developmental disabilities and self-injurious behavior (SIB) found that DRO was only effective in combination with the relevant extinction component (withholding of attention for SIB). (Author/DB)

Assessment of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in three individuals with developmental disabilities revealed that the behavior was an escape response maintained by negative reinforcement. Treatment consisted of extinction plus instructional fading and resulted in immediate and large reductions in SIB behaviors. Maintenance occurred as instruction…

Summarizes the first year's results of an Oregon mandate that hospitals report all attempted suicides by adolescents and compares the characteristics of attempted adolescent suicides in 1988 with completed suicides between 1979 and 1988. The best predictor of outcome was the method used; the relationship between method and outcome must be further…

Article summarizes information on the prevalence of self-destructive behaviors and includes risk and protective factors. Describes the effectiveness of existing prevention programs. Proposes a coordinated, resilience-building prevention strategy which addresses generic and domain-specific knowledge and skills. (Author/JDM)

Discusses the Life Attitudes Schedule (LAS), a questionnaire administered to 1,539 high school students and young adults that measures suicidal and other risk-taking behaviors. Postulates a single domain of behaviors to which all life-threatening and life-enhancing behaviors belong. Supports a broad, bipolar conceptualization of suicidal and other…

Little is known about the extent to which minor self-harm in the general population is associated with psychiatric disorder. A population-based sample of 980 young adults was interviewed independently about past-year suicidal and self-harm behavior and thoughts, and psychiatric disorders. Self-harm included self-harmful behaviors such as…

This study examines the characteristics of Texas youth designated as "most difficult to place" recipients of service under the "Exceptional Care Pilot Project" (N = 46). Findings include, among others, high levels of comorbid psychiatric disturbance (greater than 3 diagnostic groupings), physical (78.3%) and sexual (88%)…