1. Alcohol-related problems among adolescent suicides in Finland.
- Author
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Pirkola SP, Marttunen MJ, Henriksson MM, Isometsa ET, Heikkinen ME, and Lönnqvist JK
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior psychology, Adult, Alcoholism diagnosis, Depressive Disorder, Major diagnosis, Depressive Disorder, Major psychology, Ethanol blood, Family psychology, Female, Finland epidemiology, Humans, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychology, Adolescent, Retrospective Studies, Sensitivity and Specificity, Severity of Illness Index, Stress, Psychological psychology, Alcoholism psychology, Suicide psychology, Suicide statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
We studied 106 adolescent suicides out of a total nationwide population of 1397 suicides. Forty-four (42%) of these 13-22-year-old victims were classified as having suffered either a DSM-III-R alcohol use disorder or diagnostically subthreshold alcohol misuse according to retrospective evaluation using the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). These victims were found to differ from the other adolescent suicides in several characteristics: they were more likely to have comorbid categorical DSM-III-R disorders, antisocial behaviour, disturbed family backgrounds, precipitating life-events as stressors and severe psychosocial impairment. In addition, they also had a greater tendency to be alcohol-intoxicated at the time of the suicidal act, which tended to occur during weekends, suggesting that drinking in itself, and its weekly pattern, each contributed to the completion of their suicides.
- Published
- 1999
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