Item from the Smart
Marriages Archive, reproduced in the Divorce Statistics
Collection
Youth Suicide and Divorce/ Single parent Homes:
"In a study of 146 adolescent friends of 26 adolescent suicide victims,
teens living in single-parent families are not only more likely to
commit suicide but also more likely to suffer from psychological
disorders, when compared to teens living in intact families."
Source: David A. Brent, (et. al.) "Post-traumatic STress Disorders
in
Peers of Adolescent Suicide Victims: Predisposing Factors and
Phenomenology." Journal of the AMerican Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry 34 (1995): 209-215.
"Fatherless children are at dramatically greater risk of suicide."
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center
for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, D.C., 1993.
"Three out of four teenage suicides occur in households where a parent
has been absent."
Source: Jean Beth Eshtain, "Family Matters: The Plight of America's
Children." The Christian Century (July 1993): 14-21.
"A family structure index - a composite index based on the annual rate
of children involved in divorce and the percentage of families with
children present that are female-headed - is a strong predictor of
suicide among young adult and adolescent white males."
Source: Patricia L. McCall and Kenneth C. Land, "Trends in White Male
Adolescent, Young-Adult, and Elderly Suicide: Are Ther Common Underlying
Structural Factors?" Social Science Research 23 (1994): 57-81
For the Smart Marriages Archive, go to http://lists.his.com/smartmarriages/
Or return to the Divorce Statistics Collection