SUICIDALITY, HOPELESSNESS, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD LIFE AND DEATH IN CHILDREN

To replicate and expand the Orbach, Gross, and Glaubman (1981) model of suicidal behavior in children, 60 children, ages 6 to 13, reported their own suicidal thoughts and behaviors using the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire (Linehan, 1981). Scores were correlated with the four dimensions of Orbach's model (attraction to life, repulsion by life, attraction to death, and repulsion by death) and with hopelessness using the Hopelessness Scale for Children. A multiple regression analysis indicated that neither attitudes toward life and death nor hopelessness accounted for a significant amount of variance in suicidal behaviors. The only significant correlation was between hopelessness and repulsiveness of death. Hopeless children were less repulsed by death than were relatively more hopeful children. Diminished repulsion by death could be a preliminary warning sign that a normal barrier against suicide is weakening.