Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Otago. Appendix B (2 booklets)not included in this copy.

This thesis is based on data derived from a larger multi group case control study of suicidal behaviour, the Canterbury Suicide Project, which examined the antecedents, correlates and risk factors for suicide and for serious suicide attempts across the age range from adolescence to old age. For the present thesis information from the larger research design was abstracted for suicide attempts among young people. A case control study was employed in which a consecutive series of 129 young people aged 13 to 24 years who made serious suicide attempts was compared with 153 control subjects selected randomly from the community. Review of the literature suggested five domains of risk factors were likely to contribute to suicide attempt risk: social and demographic factors; family background and childhood experiences; personality traits; psychiatric disorder; environmental factors, including, particularly, life events. The findings of this study suggest a life course model of suicide attempt risk in which the aetiology of suicide attempts is multicausal and reflects an accumulation of adverse factors and influences including: social disadvantage; childhood and family adversity (childhood sexual abuse, poor parental relationships during childhood and parental alcohol problems during childhood); personality difficulties; psychiatric disorders and exposure to adverse life events. A number of intervention initiatives are discussed.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT

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