ADOLESCENT SUICIDE AND FAMILIES - AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH

Suicide is an issue of increasing concern for professionals who work w ith adolescents and their families. Over the past three decades, the r ate of suicide has increased dramatically among 15- to 24-year-olds an d is the third leading cause of death in this age group. Previous theo retical approaches to understanding adolescent suicide (i.e., Durkheim 's sociological theory of suicide, social learning theory, psychologic al theory, and family systems theory) are reviewed, and the utilizatio n of human ecological theory is proposed. Factors associated with adol escent suicide at the organism (individual), microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem levels are examined. Finally, examples of p revention and intervention at each level are presented.