Citation

Dervic K, Gould MS, Lenz G, Kleinman M, Akkaya-Kalayci T, Velting D, Sonneck G, Friedrich MH. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2006; 36(5): 539-552.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1521/suli.2006.36.5.539

PMID

17087633

Abstract

The prevalence of suicide risk factors and attitudes about suicide and helpseeking among New York and Viennese adolescents were compared in order to explore possible cross-cultural differences. Viennese adolescents exhibited higher rates of depressive symptomatology than their New York counterparts and had more first-hand experience with suicidal peers. More attribution of suicide to mental illness was reported in Vienna; yet Viennese youth were less likely than New York adolescents to recognize the seriousness of suicide threats. Help-seeking patterns of Viennese adolescents were influenced by their setting a high value on confidentiality. These cross-cultural differences may reflect the limited exposure of Austrian youth to school-based suicide prevention programs. The findings highlight the need of taking the sociocultural context into consideration in the planning of youth suicide prevention strategies.

Language: en