Characteristics of Young Children Who Die by Suicide

Counterintuitively, even children as young as 3 years express suicidality (e.g., tying a belt around their neck and stating a death wish; J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2015; 11:926). But little is known about the characteristics of children aged 5 to 11 years who die by suicide. Here, investigators analyzed registry data from 17 states on children who died by suicide; 87 were aged 5 to 11, and 606 were aged 12 to 14.

Compared with children in the older group, those in the younger group were more likely to be black and male, to die by asphyxiation (e.g., hanging), and to not leave a note. Overall, 29% had told someone about their intent. Symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were more frequent than depressive sympto…