Examining suicidal ideation among street involved youth : a resilience perspective

This exploratory study examined risk factors and protective resources for suicidal ideation among street youth in four community agencies in Metro Toronto. A secondary data analysis of 65 street youth from a collaborative project funded by the Wellesley Institute was undertaken to explore the relationships between suicidal ideation and age, gender, sexual orientation, history of physical/sexual abuse, depression, hopelessness, self-esteem, social connectedness and resilience. Results of the analysis revealed that high levels of slef-esteem, social connectedness and resilience are protective of suicidal thought, while an increase in age, being unsure of one's sexual orientation, and a high level of depression, as well as hopelessness were found to be risk factors for suicidal ideation. A history of physical abuse and/or sexual abuse was not found to be significantly related to suicidal ideation at a 0.05 level, but for this study, it was not considered to be significant (significance level set at 0.01). Implications of these findings are discussed.