Abstract
Abstract.Background: Homeless youth are a population at risk for suicidal behavior. Despite growing knowledge about risk factors, protective factors against suicidal behavior among this population are still poorly understood. Aims: To explore differences in coping and social support between homeless adolescents who attempted suicide and those who did not. Method: In total, 76 homeless adolescents from eight different shelters provided information about their suicidal behaviors over the previous year and filled out coping and social support questionnaires. Results: Homeless adolescents who had not attempted suicide perceived more social support (tangible assistance and guidance). Conversely, youth who had attempted suicide reported using more nonproductive strategies of coping (tension reduction, keep to self, and self-blame). Tangible assistance and tension reduction were found to be the strongest predictors. Limitations: As most of these youth were not homeless for a long time, care should be taken in generalizing these results to adolescents with longer histories of homelessness. Conclusion: Productive coping does not seem to constitute a sufficient personal resource to protect homeless adolescents from suicide attempts. Nonproductive coping could, however, be considered a serious risk factor. Consequently, promoting homeless youths' ability to find environmental resources, especially tangible assistance, could be the most valuable approach.
References
1999). Depression and stress in street youth. Adolescence, 34(135), 567–575.
(2000). Abuse, support, and depression among homeless and runaway adolescents. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 41(4), 408–420. 0.2307/2676294
(2005). The health of street youth: A Canadian perspective. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96(6), 432–437. 10.2307/41996049
(2015). Protective factors against depression and suicidal behaviour in adolescence. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry/Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie, 60(2 Suppl 1), S5–S15.
(1996). L'Échelle de provisions sociales : Une validation québécoise [Quebec validation of the Social Provisions Scale]. Santé Mentale Au Québec, 21(2), 158–180. 10.7202/032403ar
(2005). Soutien social et santé mentale: Concept, mesures, recherches récentes et implications pour les cliniciens
([Social support and mental health: Concept, measures, recent studies as well as implications for clinicians] . Santé Mentale au Québec, 30(2), 15–41. 10.7202/012137ar2000). The characteristics and mental health of homeless adolescents: Age and gender differences. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 8(4), 230–239. 10.1177/106342660000800403
(2004). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support: Dimensionality and age and gender differences in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(7), 1359–1369. 10.1177/0020872809359863
(2011). Resilience and suicidality among homeless youth. Journal of Adolescence, 34(5), 1049–1054. 10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.11.003
(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
(1987). The provisions of social relationships and adaptation to stress. Advances in Personal Relationships, 1(1), 37–67.
(1990).
(Type of social support and specific stress: Toward a theory of optimal matching. In G. R. SarasonB. R. SarasonI. G. PierceEds., Social support, an interactionnal view (pp. 319–366). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.2013). Characteristics of natural mentoring relationships from the perspectives of homeless youth. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 26(4), 246–253. 10.1111/jcap.12038
(2012). The mental and physical health of homeless youth: A literature review. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 43(3), 354–375. 10.1007/s10578-011-0270-1
(1999). Social network characteristics associated with risky behaviors among runaway and homeless youth. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40(1), 63–78. 10.2307/2676379
(2005). The prevalence of suicidal phenomena in adolescents: A systematic review of population-based studies. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 35(3), 239–250. 10.1521/suli.2005.35.3.239
(2002). Huit clés pour la prévention du suicide chez les jeunes
([Eight keys to youth suicide prevention] . Québec, Canada: Presses de l'Université du Québec (PUQ).2015). The role of social support and social context on the incidence of attempted suicide among adolescents living in extremely impoverished communities. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(1), 59–65. 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.08.015
(2008). Adolescent coping: Advances in theory, research and practice. New York, NY: Routledge.
(1991). Adolescent coping: The different ways in which boys and girls cope. Journal of Adolescence, 14(2), 119–133. 10.1016/0140-1971(91)90025-M
(1993a). Boys play sport and girls turn to others: Age, gender and ethnicity as determinants of coping. Journal of Adolescence, 16(3), 253–266. 10.1006/jado.1993.1024
(1993b). Manual: The Adolescent Coping Scale. Administrator's manual. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Conncil for Educational Research.
(1996). A replication study of the structure of the adolescent coping scale: Multiple forms and applications of a self-report inventory in a counselling and research context. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 12(3), 224–235. 10.1027/1015-5759.12.3.224
(2004). Prevention is better than cure: Coping skills training for adolescents at school. Educational Psychology in Practice, 20(2), 117–134. 10.1080/02667360410001691053
(2014). Coming of age: Reimagining the response to youth homelessness in Canada. Canadian Homelessness Research Network. Retrieved from http://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10315/29390/ComingOfAgeHH_0.pdf
(2013). The state of homelessness in Canada 2013. Toronto, Canada: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press. Retrieved from http://www.homelesshub.ca/ResourceFiles/Documents/SOHC2013_FR.pdf
(2002). Youth risk behavior surveillance-United States, 2001. Journal of School Health, 72(8), 313–328. 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2002.tb07917.x
(2008). Adolescent suicide: An integrated approach to the assessment of risk and protective factors. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press.
(2012). Self-harm and suicide in adolescents. The Lancet, 379(9834), 2373–2382. 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60322-5
(2011). Specific coping behaviors in relation to adolescent depression and suicidal ideation. Journal of Adolescence, 34(5), 1077–1085. 10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.10.004
(2005). Le soutien social peut-il protéger les hommes de la tentative de suicide?
([Can social support help prevent men from suicide attempt?] Santé Mentale Au Québec, 30(2), 61–84. 10.7202/012139ar2009). Multidimensional social support and the health of homeless individuals. Journal of Urban Health, 86(5), 791–803. 10.1007/s11524-009-9388-x
(2001). Prevalence of psychological distress and psychiatric disorders among homeless youth in Australia: A comparative review. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35(3), 352–358. 10.1046/j.1440-1614.2001.00910.x
(2006). Factors precipitating suicidality among homeless youth: A quantitative follow-up. Youth & Society, 37(4), 393–422. 10.1177/0044118X05282763
(2007). Coping and suicidality among homeless youth. Journal of Adolescence, 30(2), 283–296. 10.1016/j.adolescence.2006.03.002
(2002). Suicide and prostitution among street youth: A qualitative analysis. Adolescence, 37(146), 411–430.
(2008). Resilience in homeless youth: The key role of self-esteem. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78(2), 163–172. 10.1037/0002-9432.78.2.163
(2013).
(Substance use and mental health problems among street-Involved youth: The need for a harm reduction approach. In S. GaetzB. O'GradyK. BuccieriJ. KarabanowA. MarsolaisEds., Youth homelessness in Canada: Implications for policy and practice (pp. 185–198). Toronto, Canada: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press.2013). Social support as a protective factor in suicide: Findings from two nationally representative samples. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(2), 540–545. 10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.033
(2015). Psychometric properties of three measures of protective factors for depression and suicidal behaviour among adolescents. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 60(2 Suppl 1), S16–S26. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4345844
(1999). Perceived social support among depressed elderly, middle-aged, and young-adult samples: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Journal of Affective Disorders, 55(2), 159–170. 10.1016/S0165-0327(99)00017-8
(2012). An emerging framework for ending unaccompanied youth homelessness. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/an-emerging-framework-for-ending-unaccompanied-youth-homelessness
. (2003). Facteurs de protection reliés au risque suicidaire chez des adolescents: Comparaison de jeunes du milieu scolaire et de jeunes en centres jeunesse
([Protection factors related to suicidal risk in adolescents: Comparison of young people in school and youth centers] . Revue Québécoise de Psychologie, 24(1), 179–199.2008). Le Regroupement des Auberges du Coeur du Québec – Quelques chiffres
. ([Regrouping hostels for homeless adolescents in Quebec – some figures] . Retrieved from http://www.aubergesducoeur.org/quelques-chiffres2001). Correlates of resilience in homeless adolescents. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 33(1), 33–40. 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2001.00033.x
(2007). When and how do young people seek professional help for mental health problems? Medical Journal of Australia, 187(7), S35.
(1982). Stress and coping patterns among adolescent runaways. Journal of Social Service Research, 5(1–2), 15–27.
(1993). Suicidal behavior and risk factors among runaway youths. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 150(1), 103–107.
(2004). Mortality in a cohort of street youth in Montreal. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 292(5), 569–574. 10.1001/jama.292.5.569
(2009). National longitudinal survey of children and youth – Cycle 8 survey instruments 2008–2009 – Book 2 – Youth questionnaires. Ottawa, Canada: Author. Retrieved from http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/instrument/4450_Q3_V7-eng.pdf
. (1984). The inventory of socially supportive behaviors: Dimensionality, prediction, and gender differences. American Journal of Community Psychology, 12(1), 53–69. 10.1007/BF00896928
(2008). Individual and environmental protective factors for risky sexual behavior among homeless youth: An exploration of gender differences. AIDS and Behavior, 13(1), 154–164. 10.1007/s10461-008-9395-z
(2013). Perceptions of resiliency and coping: Homeless young adults speak out. Youth & Society, 48(1), 58–76. 10.1177/0044118X13477427
(1998). Stress, coping, and social support among homeless youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 13(2), 134–157. 10.1177/0743554898132003
(2003). Factors in the psychological adjustment of homeless adolescent males: The role of coping style. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(7), 778–785. 10.1097/01.CHI.0000046871.56865.D9
(2004). Suicide, high-risk behaviors, and coping style in homeless adolescent males' adjustment. Journal of Adolescent Health, 34(3), 237–243. 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.06.002
(1995). Problem solving, stress, and coping in adolescent suicide attempts. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 25(2), 241–252. 10.1111/j.1943-278X.1995.tb00923.x
(1999). Comparing suicide attempters, suicide ideators, and nonsuicidal homeless and runaway adolescents. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 29(1), 25–36. 10.1111/j.1943-278X.1999.tb00760.x
(2012). Resilience in children and youth: A review. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(12), 2295–2303. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.08.009
(