A study of the frequency of suicidal behaviour in children aged 5 to 14

433 medical and mental health institutions in the Netherlands took part in an investigation into the incidence of suicide and suicide attempts in children. The investigation is also concerned with the form that suicidal behaviour takes and an attempt is made to identify demographic and social characteristics of the children involved. The results show that suicide attempts do not constitute a very large problem in children aged 5-14; attempts hardly occur at all in children under the age of 11, but the incidence increases with age. It is also clear that children who make suicide attempts live in a problematic background situation.