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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge about the circumstances related to suicide among children and adolescents 15 years and younger.
Methods: We conducted a psychological autopsy, collecting information from parents, hospital records and police reports on persons below the age of 16 who had committed suicide in Norway during a 12-year period (1993-2004) (n=41). Those who committed suicide were compared with children and adolescents who were killed in accidents in the same time period (n=43) and with a community sample.
Results: Among the suicides 25% met the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis and 30% had depressive symptoms at the time of death. Furthermore, 60% of the parents of suicide victims reported the child had some kind of stressful conflict prior to death, whereas only 12% of the parents of the accident victims reported such conflicts.
Conclusion: One in four of the suicide victims fulfilled the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis. The level of sub-threshold depression and of stressful conflict experienced by youths who committed suicide did not appear to differ substantially from that of their peers, and therefore did not raise sufficient concern for referral to professional help.
Language: en |