Citation

Flannery WP, Sneed CD, Marsh P. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2003; 33(4): 365-372.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

14695051

Abstract

In this study we examined adolescent risk behaviors, giving special attention to suicide ideation. Cluster analysis was used to classify adolescents (N = 2,730) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Six clusters of adolescent risk behavior were identified. Although each risk cluster was distinct, some clusters shared overlapping risk behaviors. Suicide ideation was central to two clusters: the Silent Suicide cluster and the Multiple Risk cluster. The findings demonstrate that suicide ideation is both a unique risk behavior for some adolescents and part of a generalized risk syndrome for other adolescents. A multiple subgroup framework is recommended for understanding adolescent risk behaviors.