In 1995, 2367 Australians lost their lives through suicide, and up to 100 times this number may attempt each year: Suicide has now become a major public health problem in Australia, which has seen the suicide rates in young males quadruple over the last 35 years or so. An analysis of current research on suicide and suicidal behaviour exploring possible causes and crosscultural issues, is discussed. As well, an extended definition of suicide as an intentional death and its antecedents provides the foundation for a discourse on the views now held by our corntemporary society. The paper argues that suicide not only is one of the most extreme consequences of personal psychosocial distress but also is often also an indicator of previous life events and environmental factors that potentiates for personal vulnerabilities.

Over 1500 high school students responded to 54 items from Patterson and McCubbin's (1987) Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE), which measures adolescent coping behaviours. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to test and modify a model developed from an extensive literature review. The Adolescent Coping Strategies Scale (ACSS) emerged from the revalidation process and measures 10 first order coping strategies and three second or higher order factors. For researchers focussing on the use of coping mechanisms among adolescents, the ACSS promises to be a very usefil instrument. It has sound construct validity and good reliability, as demonstrated by goodness-of-fit indices and squared multiple correlations.

While there has been much concern over television’s influence on children, few studies have investigated the way young children and adults differ in their ability to distinguish the behaviour of “good” and “bad” television characters. The present study investigated the extent to which preschool children, primary school students, and adults differed in their interpretations of the actions of a stereotypically good and a stereotypically bad character. An edited television drama programme was examined for comprehension and for the extent to which children and adults differed in their belief that the characters in the programme were real. Preschool children were found to evaluate characters similarly to adults, although significant differences were evident in their comprehension of the programme and their judgement of the reality of the television content.

The adjustment of Chinese adolescent immigrant girls in Australia was the focus of this study. Specifically, stress level, parent-child conflict, and academic achievement of these girls were examined in the light of factors such as length of residence in Australia, country of origin, and ethnic identification. A questionnaire administered to 99 Chinese immigrant girls attending Melbourne high schools showed that adjustment was related to degree of Chinese identification, length of residence in Australia, and countries of origin. Length of residence in Australia was related to academic achievement. Degree of Chinese identification was related to stress level and parent-child conflict. Auspices of immigration were related to both academic achievement and stress level. The study suggests that Chinese immigrant girls are not a homogeneous group and, therefore, that service providers must be responsive to the needs of diflerent groups.

Tracing longitudinal research participants in Australia is problematic for various reasons. A study of preterm infants has located 50% of the original 300 participants after nine years of noncontact. This report describes three strategies of accurate record keeping, employment of an administrative project coordinator; and resort to backup and community contact procedures used to trace this 50%.