Part 1: Bibliographic Entry: 

Eckart, Kim. “Study Examines Teens’ Thoughts, Plans around Suicide.” UW3 News, 14 Sept.    

2021, https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/09/14/study-examines-teens-thoughts-plans-around-suicide/. 

Part 2: Terminology/Keywords:

Suicide 

Attempted Suicide 

Mental Health 

Suicidal Ideation 

Race 

Ethnic Background 

 

Part 3: Précis: 

The article examines a study conducted by the University of Washington and New York University regarding teen thoughts and plans around suicide. Conducting the National Youth Risk Behavior survey resulted in 44,000 responses with 7,500 students who expressed suicidal thoughts, plans, or attempts. The author brings into light the gender, racial and ethnic differences among those who think about and/or attempt suicide. According to the study, 3% reported attempted suicide without prior thoughts or plans, one-fourth said they only thought about it, and 38% planned but did not attempt suicide. The article emphasizes the need for more advanced suicide screenings as not all youth show suicidal thoughts or plans and might express symptoms in different ways. 

Part 4: Reflection:

Suicide is becoming more common among a younger generation of people. The article published by Kim Eckart serves to only highlight the ways in which medicine seems to fail in understanding or being able to prevent individuals from committing suicide. The study provides enough evidence to show the likelier chance of an African American teen to attempt suicide without telling anyone or showing thoughts or plans beforehand. This in turn justifies the idea that racial and ethnic differences should be taken into consideration when dealing with mental health. This article seems to only raise more questions regarding other ethnic groups and their link to suicide rates. I will most likely further my research by finding articles that explain the reasons for the difference in suicidal symptoms in relation to an individual’s race, ethnic background, and gender. 

Part 5: Quotables: 

“And students across racial and ethnic groups who reported certain factors or behaviors — being bullied online, feeling sad or hopeless, a history of sexual violence, smoking cigarettes or misusing prescription opiates — were more likely to report thinking about, planning and attempting suicide, as opposed to having thoughts and plans without an attempt.” 

 

“About one-fourth of the 7,500 respondents said they’d only thought about suicide; 38% said they’d planned suicide but did not attempt it, and 35% said they’d thought about, planned and attempted suicide.”

 

“Young men, in general, were more likely to report attempting suicide without thoughts or plans.” 

 

“Black youth’s symptoms may be more likely to manifest as concerns in their relationships with others, physical complaints or behavioral problems.”