Researchers Dig Deeper into Factors that Cause Suicides at Big Ten Universities

In effort to curb campus suicide, Michigan State University's Counseling Center adopted QPR: Question, Persuade, Refer; a method of suicide prevention training that was recommended by Dr. David Novicki, a professor and counselor at MSU's Counseling Center.

The training deals chiefly with the idea that the most effective way to prevent suicide is to directly ask someone if they are thinking about ending their life. Novicki hopes the practice of this method among MSU Residence Life and other staff and students will result in a decreased number of overall suicide attempts.

Novicki revealed that he is among a group of specialists that are studying student suicides among Big Ten schools.

The intention of the new study is to delve deeper into what factors cause students to choose to end their lives, to recognize trends in such things as majors and other defining factors. Novicki said that the biggest challenges stem from accurately determining the cause of a suicide after a person has died, as well as how difficult it is to obtain information surrounding attempted or completed suicides from law enforcement.