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. 2021 Nov;26(4):331-338.
doi: 10.1111/camh.12454. Epub 2021 Mar 28.

Characterizing children hospitalized for suicide-related thoughts and behaviors

Marisa E Marraccini  1 , Christopher W Drapeau  2 , Rachel Stein  3 , Cari Pittleman  1 , Emily N Toole  1 , Molly Kolstad  1 , Amanda C Tow  4 , Shannon M Suldo  5
Affiliations

Characterizing children hospitalized for suicide-related thoughts and behaviors

Marisa E Marraccini et al. Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Despite alarming increases in suicide deaths among preadolescent children, knowledge of the precipitants of suicide risk and the characteristics of children who seek treatment for suicidality is limited. This study's purpose is to describe children (ages 6-12) hospitalized for suicide-related concerns and compare demographic and diagnostic differences between children and adolescent (ages 13-18) patients.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed medical records of 502 children and adolescents ages 6-18 admitted for suicide-related risk to one psychiatric inpatient hospital in southeastern United States between 2015 and 2018.

Results: Patients were predominantly White (63.5%), female (64.5%), and non-Hispanic/Latino (85.1%). We conducted descriptive analyses and a series of logistic regressions comparing children and adolescents with data extracted from discharge summaries, (i.e. primary reasons for admission, environmental stressors, and diagnostic categories). Common environmental stressors included school (63.2%) and family (60.7%), and the most common diagnosis included depressive disorders. Compared to adolescents, children were more likely to be Black (OR = 1.99), male (OR = 1.94), and receive neurodevelopmental disorder (aOR = 3.0) or trauma and stress-related disorder (aOR = 2.6) diagnoses, but less likely to be diagnosed with a depressive disorder (aOR = 0.4). Across both age-groups, Black patients were more likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders and less likely to receive internalizing disorder diagnoses.

Conclusions: Characteristics of children hospitalized for suicide-related risk are relatively similar to characteristics of children dying by suicide. Compared to adolescents, hospitalized children are more likely to be Black, male, and have a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis. Proactively identifying and providing strengths-based supports for Black boys and families appear critical for suicide prevention in children.

Keywords: Child; adolescent; psychiatric hospitalization; suicide; suicide-related thoughts and behaviors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

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