@article{ref1,
title="Suicide in elementary school-aged children and early adolescents",
journal="Pediatrics",
year="2016",
author="Sheftall, Arielle H. and Asti, Lindsey and Horowitz, Lisa M. and Felts, Adrienne and Fontanella, Cynthia A. and Campo, John V. and Bridge, Jeffrey A.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Suicide in elementary school-aged children is not well studied, despite a recent increase in the suicide rate among US black children. The objectives of this study were to describe characteristics and precipitating circumstances of suicide in elementary school-aged children relative to early adolescent decedents and identify potential within-group racial differences. <br><br>METHODS: We analyzed National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) surveillance data capturing suicide deaths from 2003 to 2012 for 17 US states. Participants included all suicide decedents aged 5 to 14 years (N = 693). Age group comparisons (5-11 years and 12-14 years) were conducted by using the χ(2) test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. <br><br>RESULTS: Compared with early adolescents who died by suicide, children who died by suicide were more commonly male, black, died by hanging/strangulation/suffocation, and died at home. Children who died by suicide more often experienced relationship problems with family members/friends (60.3% vs 46.0%; P =.02) and less often experienced boyfriend/girlfriend problems (0% vs 16.0%; P <.001) or left a suicide note (7.7% vs 30.2%; P <.001). Among suicide decedents with known mental health problems (n = 210), childhood decedents more often experienced attention-deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (59.3% vs 29.0%; P =.002) and less often experienced depression/dysthymia (33.3% vs 65.6%; P =.001) compared with early adolescent decedents. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These findings raise questions about impulsive responding to psychosocial adversity in younger suicide decedents, and they suggest a need for both common and developmentally-specific suicide prevention strategies during the elementary school-aged and early adolescent years. Further research should investigate factors associated with the recent increase in suicide rates among black children.<br><br>Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0031-4005",
doi="10.1542/peds.2016-0436",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-0436"
}