Undergraduates Who Attempt Suicide Compared with Normal and Psychiatric Controls

Comparisons on 19 demographic variables were made among 81 undergraduates who had made a suicide attempt, 81 “psychiatric” controls, and 81 “normal” controls, all matched for sex and academic status. In addition, a representative sample of 23 suicide attempters was compared with 23 matched “psychiatric” and 23 matched “normal” controls on four psychological and four psychotherapy expectancy scales. Results supported the hypotheses that the suicide attempters would show significantly more depression, somatic complaint, and social isolation than the “normal” students. Analyses failed to yield consistent differences between the suicide attempters and matched “psychiatric” controls. Implications for suicide prevention are discussed.