Suicide has been called the “permanent solution to a temporary problem.” Although there is evidence to suggest that some predisposing conditions are temporary, there is even greater evidence that this permanent act is associated with a constellation of longer-term factors that increase the likelihood that individuals take their own lives. Like other risky and life threatening behaviors, suicides are associated with a variety of risk and protective factors that can be influenced by a variety of evidence-based interventions. The Department of Education's Substance Use and School Climate Survey (SUSCS) is no longer delivered in Idaho, thus the last available SUSCS data is from 2008. Additionally, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is only delivered in Idaho on odd numberd years. The last available YRBSS data is from 2009.
Prior to 2003, the research literature had identified a number of general suicide risk factors. Westefeld, Range, Rogers, Maples, Bromley and Alcorn’s (2000) literature review identified a series of risk factors including:
Ø Personality
Ø Cognitive
Ø Environmental stress
Ø Alcohol/drug use
Ø Behaviors
Ø Physical illness factors
Since then, research has identified and clarified other risk factors. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) currently lists15 different risk factors including:
Ø Family history of suicide
Ø Family history of child maltreatment
Ø Previous suicide attempt(s)
Ø History of mental disorders, particularly depression
Ø History of alcohol and substance abuse
Ø Feelings of hopelessness
Ø Impulsive or aggressive tendencies
Ø Local epidemics of suicide
Ø Isolation, a feeling of being cut off from other people
Ø Barriers to accessing mental health treatment
Ø Loss (relational, social, work or financial)
Ø Physical illness
Ø Easy access to lethal methods
Ø Unwillingness to seek help because of the stigma attached to mental health and substance abuse disorders or to suicidal thoughts.
The most recent research has added new items and clarity to some of the factors above. Additional risk factors include:
Ø Unrealistic fatalism (which appears in some Hispanic communities)
Ø Cognitive impairments (particularly as they apply to the elderly)
Ø Parental depression (as it applies to children of parents with depression)
Ø Mobility and transition (as it applies to adolescents)
Ø School connectedness (as it applies to adolescents)
Ø Deliberate self harm (as it applies to adolescents and college-aged adults)
Ø Age of alcohol initiation
Ø High risk behavior (adolescents) (Walsh & Eggert, 2008)
Ø Effective clinical care for mental, physical, and substance abuse disorders
Ø Easy access to a variety of clinical interventions and support for help seeking
Ø Family and community support
Ø Support from ongoing medical and mental health relationships
Ø Skill in problem solving, conflict resolution, and nonviolent way of handling disputes
Ø Cultural and religious beliefs that discourage suicide and support instincts for self-preservation (US Public Health Service, 1999)
Since the CDC created this list, the research community has identified additional protective factors and refined our understanding of the existing protective factors. For adolescents, for example, researchers have show that the following factors are associated with reduced suicide ideations, attempts and completed suicidal acts.
Ø School attendance
Ø School climate and safety