A Five Year Review of Youth Suicide in Manitoba

Abstract

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescents. The suicide rate in the 15 to 24 year old age group has increased at a faster rate than in any other age group. This study is a descriptive and retrospective investigation of 204 files from the Chief Medical Examiner's office of all youths aged 24 years and less in the province of Manitoba who committed suicide between 1984 and 1988. The study found a high male to female ratio, a large number of younger adolescents and a suicide rate in the Native population which was ten times that of non-Natives. The method of suicide varied by gender and race. Males more often used hanging and guns; females were more likely to overdose. Natives tended to hang themselves more than non-Natives, while non-Natives more often used guns. The highest percentage of Native suicides occurred in urban areas. Depression and substance abuse were identified as risk factors. A number of recommendations regarding information gathering post-suicide, as well as prevention and intervention programs are proposed.

Correlates of Suicidality: Investigation of a Representative Sample of Manitoba First Nations Adolescents

“…Aboriginal suicides occurred in urban followed by reserve areas, rather than in rural locations or in towns (Sigurdson, Staley, Matas, Hildahl, & Squair, 1994). Completed suicides on reservations were significantly higher than those in non-reserve areas in an…”

“…Community caring remained a significant protective correlate of any suicidality in the multivariate model. Sigurdson et al, 1994), increased lack of inhibition at the time of suicidal thinking may also be present among this ethnic group, thus contributing to spontaneous SA. In any case, this alarming finding suggests that the window of opportunity for possible suicide intervention may be narrower in FN youth than in other adolescents.…”

“…Other studies in indigenous adolescent samples have also shown a higher prevalence of suicidal behaviour in females (not all studies conducted significance tests) and some significant associations between gender and suicidality in mostly bivariate analyses (Borowsky et al, 1999;Chino & Fullerton-Gleason, 2006;Grossman et al, 1991;Howard-Pitney et al, 1992;LaFromboise et al, 2007;Yuen et al, 2000). Previous research in different samples has shown that this relationship likely occurs because of the more lethal means that males typically use with which to attempt suicide, which lead to higher rates of completion than women (Gibb, Beautrais, & Fergusson, 2005;Sigurdson et al, 1994). Therefore, male youth who have had a SA may be less likely to be alive in order to complete a survey such as the RHS.…”

“…Although assessment of psychopathology has varied across studies with an emphasis on depressive symptomatology, mental health problems have been associated with SI and/or SA (Borowsky et al, 1999;Chino & FullertonGleason, 2006;Dinges & Duong-Tran, 1994;Freedenthal & Stiffman, 2004;Grossman et al, 1991;Howard-Pitney et al, 1992;Manson et al, 1989;Silviken & Kvernmo, 2007;Yuen et al, 1996;Yuen et al, 2000) as well as with suicide completion (Kirmayer et al, 1998;Sigurdson et al, 1994) in bivariate and some multivariate models in indigenous youth in Canada, the U.S., and Norway.…”

Comprendre et agir sur le suicide chez les Premières Nations

“…Ainsi, les Inuits du Nunavik présentent un ratio hommes/femmes de 5 pour 1 (Boothroyd et al, 2001) et les adultes atikamek en Haute-Mauricie un ratio de 8 pour 1 (Laliberté, 2005). Mais comme c'est le cas presque universellement, les femmes de milieu autochtone comptent plus de tentatives de suicide que les hommes (Sigurson et al, 1994).…”