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Philip A. May, PhD, Patricia Serna, MSW, Lance Hurt, PhD and Lemyra M. DeBruyn, PhD

Philip A. May is with the Departments of Sociology and Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Patricia Serna and Lance Hurt are with the Western Athabaskan Behavioral Health Services Program. At the time of the study, Lemyra M. DeBruyn was with the Division of Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Philip A. May, PhD, Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions, University of New Mexico, 2650 Yale Blvd, Albuquerque, NM 87106 (e-mail: pmay{at}unm.edu).

Objectives. We evaluated the efficacy of 15 years of a public health–oriented suicidal-behavior prevention program among youths living on an American Indian reservation.

Methods. All suicides, suicide attempts, and suicidal gestures were monitored. Age-specific analyses over time were used to assess outcomes.

Results. Both descriptive and linear regression analyses indicated that a substantial drop occurred in suicidal gestures and attempts. Suicide deaths neither declined significantly nor increased, although the total number of self-destructive acts declined by 73% (P=.001).

Conclusions. Data from this community-based approach document a remarkable downward trend—measured by both magnitude and temporal trends in the specifically targeted age cohorts—in suicidal acts. The sequential decrease in age-specific rates of suicide attempts and gestures is indicative of the program’s success.

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