Suicide and other consequences of childhood and adolescent anxiety disorders

The increasing risk of suicide among children and adolescents makes imperative the development of a set of appropriate and clinically significant predictors of suicide risk for that group. Of particular concern is the need to understand the role of anxiety psychopathology in suicidal children and the occurrence of suicidal behaviors in children with anxiety disorders. The author reviews the recent investigations assessing childhood and adolescent suicide risk and emphasizes the need to update our current methods in assessing both suicidal behavior and anxiety. Furthermore, he points out the need for prospective studies of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents to identify those children at risk for suicide and other psychopathology as they mature.