Childhood suicidal behaviour

Abstract

Twenty children under 14 years of age who were admitted to hospital following a suicide attempt were compared to 50 psychiatrically ill non-suicidal inpatients of similar age. Suicidal behaviour was associated with mostly the male sex, personal experiences of significant losses, academic under-achievement, marital disintegration among the parents and past intrafamilial violence, including physical abuse of the index child. Although suicide behaviour was not a prerogative of a particular social class, a number of factors producing high risk for poverty were present among a proportion of the families. In both samples there was a high incidence of ongoing illness in the families and a high incidence of perinatal difficulties concerning the index child were reported. Suicidal children did not have a past history of antisocial behaviour and their classroom behaviour was unremarkable.