Teachers' Attitudes toward Youth Suicide and its Relationship with Their Own Quality of Life

Objective: We investigated teachers' attitudes toward youth suicide and its relationship with quality of life (QOL). Methods: Participants were 77 teachers. A self-administered questionnaire created by the research team was used to assess attitudes toward suicide. The Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-36v2) was used to assess QOL. Results: A little more than one-fourth (26.0%) of the teachers agreed that youth suicide was an issue requiring intervention to address as a problem. Teachers that showed negative attitudes toward suicide for social reasons had a lower "role-social component summary" score on the SF-36v2 (r = .265, p < .05). Conclusions: Increasing correct knowledge about suicide and social support may be necessary for teachers to implement suicide prevention programs for students.