Abstract
Suicide and attempted suicide claim numerous lives across the globe, especially within the state of New York, USA (DiClemente, Hansen & Ponton, 2013). It has been ranked as one of the top five causes of death among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years old. Suicide has always been viewed fundamentally as a mental health problem (Nock et al., 2013).The health issue is as a result of affective disorder. However, there is remarkable evidence that indicate a possible relationship between substance abuse and suicide, especially among adolescents (Swahn et al., 2012). Substance use is a key risk factor for attempted suicide, suicidal ideation and completed suicide (Wong et al., 2013).
The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship that exists between substance use and attempted suicide among adolescents in New York. The study is limited to adolescents in grades 9-12 within the state of New York. It seeks to quantify the total incidents of attempted suicides which are related to substance abuse. It also seeks to investigate the various reasons behind substance abuse among the adolescent. The study will employ the use of Social Cognitive Theory as a framework to determine the answers to various research questions.
References
DiClemente, R. J., Hansen, W. B., & Ponton, L. E. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of adolescent health risk behavior. Springer Science & Business Media.
Nock, M. K., Green, J. G., Hwang, I., McLaughlin, K. A., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Kessler, R. C. (2013). Prevalence, correlates, and treatment of lifetime suicidal behavior among adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement. JAMA psychiatry, 70(3), 300-310.
Seil, K. S., Desai, M. M., & Smith, M. V. (2014). Sexual orientation, adult connectedness, substance use, and mental health outcomes among adolescents: findings from the 2009 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Journal Information, 104(10).
Swahn, M. H., Bossarte, R. M., Choquet, M., Hassler, C., Falissard, B., & Chau, N. (2012). Early substance use initiation and suicide ideation and attempts among students in France and the United States. International Journal of Public Health, 57(1), 95-105.
Wong, S. S., Zhou, B., Goebert, D., & Hishinuma, E. S. (2013). The risk of adolescent suicide across patterns of drug use: a nationally representative study of high school students in the United States from 1999 to 2009. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 48(10), 1611-1620.
