[Attempted suicide in childhood and adolescence: epidemiologic characteristics]

Suicide attempts among children and adolescents are occurring more frequently in the last years. In fact, in some countries suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age, in spite of the fact that it is probably significantly underreported. The present study aimed at examining the factors related to suicide attempts in thirty children and adolescents between 6 and 16 years old. These patients were compared to a randomly selected control group. A systematic review of the patients' charts was performed. We found that suicide attempts increased with age, 83% of those patients attempting suicide were female, the medical lethality of the means used in the attempt did not correlate with the patient's perception of the risk of dying, and recent stressful life events could often be identified as precipitators for attempting suicide.