Citation

Larkin GL, Rivera H, Xu H, Rincon E, Beautrais AL. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2011; 41(1): 79-86.

Affiliation

Gregory Luke Larkin, Hector Rivera, Hongzhi Xu, Annette L. Beautrais, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. Edward Rincon, Rincon and Associates, Dallas, TX, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1943-278X.2010.00013.x

PMID

21309826

Abstract

We conducted a cross-sectional, random-digit-dial survey to evaluate public responses to a hypothetical question: "If someone you knew was suicidal, what would you do first?" Younger people were more likely to call a suicide hotline, and less likely to go to an emergency room (ER) or call 911; immigrants (in the U.S. <15 years) were more likely to call 911, and less likely to call a suicide hotline; African Americans were more likely to go to the ER and call 911; Hispanics were more likely to call 911 but less likely to call a suicide hotline. These results suggest that public messages about hotlines and emergency options for suicidal patients need to be tailored to relevant population characteristics including age, education, ethnicity, and language preferences.

Language: en