Editorial: Young Children and Suicidal Ideations: Developmentally Specific Symptoms Call for Developmentally Specific Interventions

Abstract

The field of psychopathology in young children has made substantial strides in the past 3 decades, moving from discussions of whether disorders can be reliably diagnosed to sophisticated analyses of specific symptoms. In this issue, Hennefield et al.¹ explore the presentation of suicidal ideations (SIs) in children younger than 7 years. The validity of criteria for major depression in this age group is well established, but suicidality is a newer focus of research that, like the disorder itself, requires careful study to identify developmental similarities with and differences from the presentation in older children and adults.² Prior reports have suggested that young children with psychiatric disorders talk about suicide at rates of 4% to 13% and that these early SIs predict school-age SI.^2-4 Publications about suicidality in children younger than 7 have predictably elicited discussions about the challenges in interpreting the statements and behaviors in a developmentally specific manner.⁴.