
24th International Conference Stress and Anxiety July 10-12, 2003 Lisboa, Portugal organizado por la Assessment of Stress and Suicidal Risk in Mexican Adolescents Emilia Lucio, Quetzalcoatl Hernandez & Consuelo Duran National Autonomous University of Mexico Mexico City, Mexico In the study of suicidal behavior in youths the assessment of stress and anxiety generated by recent life events becomes crucial as part of the clinicians tasks. The Life Events questionnaire in its Adolescent version has proven to be an effective instrument for detecting and assessing the impact of adverse circumstances among adolescents as well as for examining employed stress coping styles. The examined areas in this questionnaire are family, social, personal, conduct problems, achievement and failure, health and school. On the other hand, the Inventory of Suicidal Risk for Adolescents is a screening test aimed at detecting risk for suicidal behavior in these areas: suicidal ideation and behavior, aggression and impulsiveness, substance abuse, behavioral warning signs for suicide risk, school and social adjustment, interpersonal relationships, attitude toward life, and help-seeking background. The sample for this study included 341 Mexican adolescents from Mexico City. The age range was from 13 to 18 years old with a mean of 14.5 and standard deviation of 1.6. Findings from correlation analyses between these instruments indicate that risk profiles correlate highly, specially in the personal and social adjustment, and interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, when used together as part of a school-based screening strategy the two instruments permit an ampler and more detailed evaluation of young students at risk of emotional distress and suicide. |