The role of drugs and alcohol in urban minority adolescent suicide attempts.

This study examined psychopathology and substance use in 15 African American adolescents who attempted suicide and 15 African American adolescents who did not attempt suicide (control group). Both groups of adolescents and their parents completed questionnaires that addressed depression, behavior problems, family functioning, and drug and alcohol use. On the basis of group means of the Children's Depression Inventory (Kovacs & Beck, 1977), the Youth Self-Report (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1987), and the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983), the suicidal youth were found to have a significant level of depression in addition to a variety of internalizing and externalizing behavior disorders. Similarly, on the Multigating Substance Use Evaluation System (Jurkovic & Bruce, 1991), the suicidal youth were at a high risk for alcohol and drug abuse. The suicidal group reported more alcohol and drug abuse than the control group. The results indicated that suicidal African American adolescents used significant amounts of drugs and alcohol, which may be associated with suicide attempts.