Family Fact: Suicide

Family Quote: Depressed Teens

Family Research Abstract: In a Down Mood

Suicide is the number three cause of death among children aged 10 to 19.  In the Year 2000, 1921 teenagers took their own lives.  For the sub-group aged 15 10 19, this accounted for 12 percent of the total deaths.

(Source: Robert N. Anderson, "Deaths: Leading Causes for 2000," National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 50, No. 16, September 16, 2002, p.13; http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_16.pdf.) 

"Four out of five parents say they are concerned about the problem of depression and suicide among teenagers. They believe this is both a public health and a public safety problem.  Surprisingly, 90% of parents indicate they are confident in being able to tell if their child was depressed or thinking about suicide. Yet, in reality, only one-third of teens with mental health problems are known to parents or any adult."  

(Source: "National Initiative Launched for Early Detection of Teen Depression and Suicide Risk," Columbia University TeenScreen Program and the Positive Action for Teen Health (PATH) initiative, February 20, 2003; http://teenscreen.org/resources/press1.html.) 

Child psychologists do not lack for work in areas where the divorce lawyers are busy and the single-parent households are numerous.  Family background stands out as a strong predictor of psychological distress in a study recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by a team of epidemiologists from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands.   Analyzing data collected from a statistically weighted sample of 403 children, the Dutch scholars looked for "psychosocial risk factors" predicting "child psychopathology."  The data clearly established that "living in a single-parent family and having a life event [such as a serious illness, a parental divorce, or the death of a family member] were the most important predictors of mood and anxiety disorders."  What is more, these psychological problems were not short-lived: psychological diagnoses made when the children were 5 to 6 years old "corresponded well" with diagnoses made one and a half years later.