Adolescent Suicide Risk and Peer-Related Violent Behaviors and Victimization

Abstract

This exploratory study seeks to better understand the link between peer-related violence (perpetration and victimization) and suicide risk among youth. The study uses data gathered from Arizona, Nevada, and Wyoming, where the highest rates of adolescent suicide in the United States are found. The data derive from in-school surveys of eighth-grade students conducted during 1998 and 1999. Higher levels of reported suicide risk were prominent among the multiethnic, urban, and female respondents. Male and female respondents who perpetrated violence by initiating fights, threatening to use weapons, and using weapons to assault others were more likely to be classified in the high-risk suicide group than those who did not. General results were similar for victims and those witnessing violence. Implications for prevention programming and future research are discussed.