RECENT STRESSORS AND FAMILY SATISFACTION IN SUICIDAL ADOLESCENTS IN SOUTH-AFRICA

A study of 40 adolescents who had engaged in suicidal behaviours showe d that 77.5% of them reported conflict with their parents in the few h ours before the event. Significantly more suicidal subjects than contr ols experienced family conflict, problems at school and problems with boy/girlfriends during the preceding 6 months. The suicidal subjects a lso expressed significantly lower levels of family satisfaction than t he controls. The results support the view that suicidal adolescents ar e dissatisfied with their family functioning and use suicidal behaviou r as a means of communicating their distress. (C) 1997 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.