Locus of Control in Young Women Who Have Attempted Suicide

Young women who attempted suicide scored in a significantly more external manner than a control group on a locus of control scale. However, for the suicide attempters, those whose attempt resulted in the most risk to life tended to score more internally than those whose attempt caused negligible physical harm. There was a significant correlation between locus of control scores and hopelessness, though not with depression. There was also a significant correlation between locus of control scores and a measure of perceived childhood stress.