ABSTRACT
Secondary-data analyses were conducted with the National Adolescent Student Health Survey to investigate relations between alcohol use, suicidal ideation and attempts, and risky (dangerous) activities among early (8th graders) and mid-adolescents (10th graders). Higher levels of alcohol use were associated with increases in the frequency of suicidal ideation and attempts across grade levels and for sex. Similarly, higher levels of alcohol use were associated with more frequent involvement in risky activities (e.g., swimming alone, taking someone else’s medication) across grade levels and for sex. Logistic-regression models indicated that sex, alcohol use, and risky behaviors were significant predictors of suicidal ideation and attempts. Particularly salient were findings for heavy alcohol-using, high risk-taking female adolescents who had attempted suicide. For 8th graders, the probability of having attempted suicide for this subgroup was 0.52 and for 10th graders this subgroup was 0.47.
