ALTITUDES TOWARD LIFE AND DEATH AND SUICIDALITY IN YOUNG-ADULTS

Attitudes toward life and death, alone or in combination with life eve nts, may be important in discriminating between those at serious risk for suicide and those who are not. Of 140 young adults in a college se tting, 139 completed the Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale for Ado lescents (MAST-A), the Life and Death Attitudes Scale (Fairy Tales), t ile Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire (SBQ), the Death Anxiety Scale, a nd the Life Experiences Survey. The MAST-A and Fairy Tales attitudes t oward life and death were significantly correlated, and several of the attitudes were significantly correlated with the SBQ. A stepwise mult iple regression yielded repulsion by life as accounting for the most v ariance in the SBQ. Women endorsed higher levels of suicidality and at traction to death than men.