This study aimed at identifying suicide ideation among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years old within the general population of Porto Alegre city, Brazil; characterizing adolescents with and without suicide ideation as to depression/hopelessness intensity; identifying suicide ideation, association level between suicide ideation and depression/hopelessness in those youngsters; as well as identifying the variables most associated to suicide ideation in those adolescents showing this behavior. A social-demographic datasheet, Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation, Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Hopelessness Scale were used. Data were submitted to frequency calculation, chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. From the 526 adolescents in the sample, 36% presented suicide ideation. Out of them, 36% showed depression symptoms and 28,6% hopelessness (moderate and/or severe). The variables most associated to suicide ideation were: feminine gender, a friend's suicide attempt, depression and hopelessness.
suicide ideation; adolescence; depression; hopelessness