Abstract
Contracting has been used as a response to individuals at risk of suicide for over thirty years. In the present study almost 400 high school students were given a survey about their experiences with suicide. It found that they were unlikely to initiate contact with traditional counselors during a suicidal crisis, but over half of them admitted they would probably tell a friend. Training in “No harm agreements”, a form of peer contracting, was given to half the students. After training, these experimental subjects were significantly more likely than control subjects to recognize symptoms of suicide, to intervene appropriately, and to arrange for professional follow-up. They were also less likely to consider suicide an acceptable option. Greater recognition of two suicidal symptoms and increased likelihood of getting a promise not to commit suicide without talking with a counselor or minister were still present in the experimental group at seven weeks after the training. Responses about questions of safety with this method were promising but still need further attention.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbey, K. J., Madsen, C. H. & Polland, R. (1989). Short-term suicide awareness curriculum. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 19 216-227.
Berman, A. L. & Jobes, D. A. (1991). Adolescent suicide. Assessment and intervention. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Bresnahan, J. L. & Shapiro, M. M. (1966). A general equation and technique for the exact partitioning of chi-square contingency tables. Psychological Bulletin, 66 252-262.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1992). Youth suicide prevention programs: A resource guide.Atlanta, GA: Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Clark, D. C. (1993). Suicidal behavior in childhood and adolescence: Recent studies and implications. Psychiatric Annals, 23 271-283.
Crabtree, C. R. (1990). When friends are hurting.(Available from [C. R. Crabtree, now at Texas Tech University, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, P.O.
Drye, R. C., Goulding, R. L. & Goulding, M. E. (1973). No-suicide decisions: Patient monitoring of suicidal risk. American Journal of Psychiatry, 130(2), 171-174.
Earley, K. (1989). Are we listening? Adolescent suicide. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 261 1977.
Garland, A. F., Whittle, B. & Shaffer, D. (1989). A survey of youth suicide prevention programs. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28 931-934.
Garland, A. F. & Zigler, E. (1993). Adolescent suicide prevention: Current research and social policy implications. American Psychologist, 48 169-182.
Gibson, J. A. & Range, L. M. (1991). Are written reports of suicide and seeking help contagious? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 21 1517-1523.
Leenaars, A. A. (1991). 1990: Suicidology in schools. In A. A. Leenaars (Ed.), Suicide prevention in schools(pp. 257-264). New York: Hemisphere.
Leenaars, A. A. (1994). Crisis intervention with highly lethal suicidal people. Death Studies, 18 341-360.
McLean, P. & Taylor, S. (1994). Family therapy for suicidal people. Death Studies, 18 409-426.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1991). Vital statistics of the United States; Vol. 2. Mortality - Part A.[for the years 1966-1988]. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Nelson, F. L. (1987). Evaluation of a youth suicide prevention school program. Adolescence, 38 813-825.
Ross, C. P. (1980). Mobilizing schools for suicide prevention. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 10 239-243.
Rubenstein, J. L., Heeren, T., Housman, D., Rubin, C. & Stechler, G. (1989). Suicidal behavior in “normal” adolescents: Risk and protective factors. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59 59-71.
Seitz, V., Rosenbaum, L. & Apfel, N. (1985). Effects of family support intervention: A ten-year follow-up. Child Development, 54 376-391.
Shaffer, D., Garland, A., Vieland, V., Underwood, M. & Busner, C. (1991). The impact of curriculum-based suicide prevention programs for teenagers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30 588-596.
Shaffer, D., Vieland, V., Garland, A., Rojas, M., Underwood, M. & Busner, C. (1990). Adolescent suicide attempters: Response to suicide prevention programs. Journal of the American Medical Association, 264 3151-3155.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hennig, C.W., Crabtree, C.R. & Baum, D. Mental health CPR: Peer contracting as a response to potential suicide in adolescents. Archives of Suicide Research 4, 169–187 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009672330315
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009672330315