Attitudes toward suicide in the adolescent population.

BACKGROUND Only few studies have so far confirmed the clear connection of attitudes toward suicide with prevalence of suicidal behavior, and there are several contradictory findings on the balance of this relationship. Slovenia has long had a very high suicide rate, including in the population of adolescents. AIMS To examine attitudes of Slovene adolescents toward suicide and their connection to different suicide risk factors. METHODS A questionnaire on attitudes toward suicide was given to 423 high school students from three regions based on the different regional suicide rates. RESULTS The results proved our expectation of girls having more permissive attitudes toward suicide than boys. Also, a permissive attitude was positively associated with the majority of suicide risk factors. CONCLUSIONS In the light of certain limitations of the study we discuss the implications of the main finding, namely, that permissive attitudes toward suicide are more likely a risk than a safety factor for suicidal behavior.