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. 2018 Jan;27(1):47-56.
doi: 10.1007/s00787-017-1019-6. Epub 2017 Jun 29.

Suicide in adolescents: findings from the Swiss National cohort

Nicole Steck  1 , Matthias Egger  2 , Benno G Schimmelmann  3   4 , Stephan Kupferschmid  4   5 ; Swiss National Cohort
Affiliations

Suicide in adolescents: findings from the Swiss National cohort

Nicole Steck et al. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Suicide in adolescents is the second most common cause of death in this age group and an important public health problem. We examined sociodemographic factors associated with suicide in Swiss adolescents and analysed time trends in youth suicide in the Swiss National Cohort (SNC). The SNC is a longitudinal study of the whole Swiss resident population, based on linkage of census and mortality records. We identified suicides in adolescents aged 10-18 years from 1991 to 2013. A total of 2.396 million adolescents were included and 592 suicides were recorded, corresponding to a rate of 3.7 per 100,000 [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.4-4.0]. Rates increased with age from 0.0 per 100,000 at age 10 years to 14.8 per 100,000 (95% CI 12.6-17.5) at 18 years in boys, and from 0.0 to 5.4 per 100,000 (4.1-7.2) in girls. Being a boy, living in a single parent household, being an only or middle-born child, and living in rural regions were factors associated with a higher rate of suicide. Hanging was the most common method in boys, and railway suicides were most frequent in girls. There was no clear evidence for an increase or decrease over calendar time. We conclude that familial and socioeconomic factors including type of household, birth order and urbanity are associated with youth suicide in Switzerland. These factors should be considered when designing prevention programmes for youth suicide.

Keywords: Adolescents; Children; Longitudinal study; Suicide; Switzerland.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical standards

The Swiss National Cohort Study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the Canton of Bern.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Crude rates of suicide per 100,000 person-years by age and gender in Switzerland, 1991–2013
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Crude rate of suicide per 100.000 person-years by gender and calendar years in Switzerland, 1991–2013
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Factors associated with suicide among adolescents in Switzerland, 1991–2013: hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals from multivariable Cox analysis. Models adjusted for sex, type of household, birth order, highest education in the household, age of mother at birth, religion, urbanity, nationality, neighbourhood index of socioeconomic position and language region
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Associations of household type and birth order with suicide among adolescents in Switzerland, 1991–2013: hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals from multivariable Cox analysis. Models adjusted for sex, type of household, birth order, highest education in the household, age of mother at birth, religion, urbanity, nationality, neighbourhood index of socioeconomic position and language region. The two variables with a statistically significant interaction with age group are shown
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