SUICIDE IN CHILDREN Introdu

According to Hill (1998), of the 300,000 people who attempt suicide every year, about 10 percent succeed. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in kids under 15 years of age; and about one in every ten teenagers will attempt to commit suicide before they finish high school.

Moreover, since 1950 suicide among young people has increased by 250 percent and is showing signs of continuing to increase (Hill, 1998). In Los Angeles county alone in one year, youth suicide climbed 80 percent (Rivera 2001). These alarming statistics highlight the importance of the need to fully understand the factors that contribute to suicide among youth.

The first part of this paper examines the current research investigating predictors of suicide in young people. To this end, three categories of suicide predictor research are examined: studies using clinical samples; studies using non-clinical samples; and studies comparing predictors of clinical and non-clinical samples. The second part of this paper examines both one tragic youth who committed suicide in front of his classmates as well as the issues faced by youth suicide in one major county. The review ends with the formulation of several conclusions concerning factors that assist in predicting suicide risk in young people.

Predictors of Suicide in Children and Adolescents

Research Conducted on Clinical Samples

What variables place children and adolescents at risk fo

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eral is being redefined. As a result, they often experienced reduced levels of self-confidence, and increased levels fear, uncertainty and doubt. They are generally reluctant to seek help because they often believe "nobody would understand." Other developmental factors that can increase their degree of risk include: the sense that everything seems to take so long, the intensity with which they are experiencing sexual, psychological and social changes, their lack of experience with death and a generally unformed consciousness about death and dying. Also, they often believe that their experience is the most intense thing that anyone has ever felt. Hutchings (1998) has suggested that another factor that may place children and adolescents at higher risk of suicide is if they witness domestic violence in their homes. In her study of a small sample of adolescents, Hutchings observed that adolescents who witness violence in the home are at an increased risk of trying to handle their own problems using violent methods; probably because their parents have modeled this behavior. Being at increased risk of using violence as a mechanism for coping, Hutchings feels that these teens could well be at increased risk of handling pain via sui
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Approximate Word count = 4037
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)