| Show Risk Factors for Utah Youth Suicide Douglas Gray D Jennifer Achilles A John Workman A William McMahon D Abstract The Utah Youth Suicide Study provides information on the government agency contacts of suicide completers and outlines new suicide risk factors For example 65 of suicide victims were found in the Juvenile Justice system and most had multiple minor offenses over several years The demographics of Utah youth suicide as collected by the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner are consistent with national data The predominant gender is male and firearms are the most common method comprehensive approach requires integration of Utah and National data Current knowledge of suicide risk factors for Utahyouth are outlined described and referenced Introduction Utah Department of Health data indicates that suicide is the leading cause of death for males age 15 to 44 Since 1990 approximately 280 Utahns of all ages have died each year asresult of suicide Rolfs Paoli Neerings 1999 Approximately 20 54 of 280 of these suicides occurred in the 1321 year old age group Youth suicide has been declared an epidemic by the Utah Department of Health Utah suicide statistics reflect national trends with youth suicide increasing dramatically over four decades and stabilizing in the mid 1990s CDC Wonder database Utah consistently ranks among the top ten states in the nation for youth and adult suicide The 10 states with the highest suicide rates are in the Intermountain West and Alaska Studies by the Centers for Disease Control CDC controlling for such variables as age gun ownership and ethnicity have been unable to explain the regional variation of suicide CDC 1997 Suicide continues to be an infrequent phenomenon making it very difficult to predict Furthermore attempted youth suicides requiring medical attention outweigh completions 47 Andrus et al 1991 However the impact of suicide is staggering Distinct gender differences are evident in terms of attempts the ration of females to males is 3-5 Differences are also evident in completers the ratio of males to females is 3-5 This data explains gender differences in choosing lethal and non-lethal methods with males tending to use either fireammshanging and females choosing poisoning Cultural factors make it less acceptable for males to attempt suicide without completing Canetto 1997 Moscicki 1994 Firearm availabilty also increases the risk of suicide Brent et al 1991 Kellermann et al 1992 Research shows that youth suicide completers have high rates of mood disorders with co-morbid diagnoses of substance and alcohol abuse and conduct disorder Brent etal 1988 Shaffer et al 1996 Studies have shown that young homosexual males have higher rates of suicide attempts than controls Bagley Tremblay 1997 Remafedi French Story Resnick Blum 1998 However in the only study examining homosexuality among youth suicide completers homosexuality was notsignificant factor Shaffer Fisher Hicks Parides Gould 1995 Suicide is oftenresponse toprecipitant that is the final straw in the context oflong history of emotional and behavioral problems Brent et al 1993 Gould Fisher Parides Flory Shaffer 1996 These precipitants are commonly encountered by all youth such asbreak-up withsignificant other an impending disciplinary action or an argument with parents Unfortunately studies to-date show that most youth suicide completers 80-95 are not in treatment at the time of their death Statewide Effort Identifying Opportunities for Prevention Over the past three yearscollaborative effort between the Utah Department of Health and the University of Utah has resulted in the Utah Youth Suicide Study This study seeks to identify risk factors characteristic of Utah suicide victims aged 13-21 years see Figure and to investigate barriers that prevented them from receiving treatment Preliminary results from this investigation Gray et al 1998 describe tisk factors and predictors for youth in the State of Utah The risk factors identified in the Utah Youth Suicide Study found that the majority 65 of Utah youth suicide completers had involvement with the Juvenile Justice system Contact 50 with the Juvenile Justice system Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
