Peer Survivors of Adolescent Suicide

Abstract

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents. The peer survivors of an adolescent suicide experience a normal but individually variant grieving process. It is important that the survivors be understood and that they receive appropriate ameliorative affective attention through postvention efforts by significant adults in their environment. An important setting for this postvention is the school, where adolescents spend many of their waking hours. Components of a grief time frame for adolescent suicide survivors, referral guidelines, and factors to consider when implementing a school postvention program are discussed.