Citation

Shain BN. Pediatrics 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

NorthShore University HealthSystem, Deerfield, Illinois and Department of Psychiatry, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois aias@ix.netcom.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2019-1912

PMID

31611337

Abstract

Over the last 10 years, the rate of adolescents ages 15 to 19 committing suicide in the United States increased drastically, with an overall rate of 6.7 suicides per 100 000 per year in 2007 and a rate of 11.8 per 100 000 per year in 2017.1 The rate increased for both boys and girls as well as among white, black, and Hispanic adolescents (Table 1). The group with the most dramatic increase was black girls: 1.2 suicides per 100 000 per year in 2007 and 4.0 per 100 000 per year in 2017.

Suicide, nonetheless, is an infrequent event. Identifying adolescents at increased danger is aided by the use of suicide risk factors, such as depression and bipolar disorder; substance intoxication or use disorders; history of physical or sexual abuse; chaotic family life; lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning sexual orientation or transgender identification; and pathologic Internet use.2 Among risk factors, a suicide attempt is the most strongly associated with later death by suicide.3,4 Adolescents who have recently made a suicide attempt with a high probability of dying are at high risk, but low risk after a suicide attempt is difficult to determine.2 Consequently, all previous suicide attempts need to be taken seriously ...

Language: en