Attitudes towards suicide in the adolescent population: association with some risk factors and subjective well-being

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine attitudes of Slovene adolescents toward suicide and their connection to different suicide risk factors and subjective well being. Data was collected on 423 high school students from three regions, chosen by their suicide rate, with ATTS (Attitudes towards Suicide Questionnaire) and PWBS (Psychological Well-Being Scales). Risk factors for suicide included gender, family status, parents' education, school success as well as suicide behaviour of adolescent, his family and others and self reported probability of suicide. The results did not prove our expectation of girls having more permissive attitudes toward suicide than boys and also showed some other interesting gender specific perceptions of suicidal behaviour. Permissive attitudes were further positively associated with the majority of risk factors as well as the suicide rates of the three regions; the most permissive attitudes toward suicide were found in the area with the highest suicide rate. Statistically important negative correlation of permissive attitudes with subjective well-being on different psychological domains supports our finding of permissive attitudes toward suicide being one of the possible risk factors for suicidal behaviour. Critical restrictions of our study and further implications of such findings for suicide prevention are discussed.