NCJ Number
223399
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 53 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2008 Pages: 703-708
Date Published
May 2008
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study reviewed autopsy and field reports for all suicides of children and youth 17 years-old and younger at the time of death whose cases were referred to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator from 1979 to 2005.
Abstract
The study identified 433 suicides that met case criteria, involving youth ranging in age from 9 to 17. The age-adjusted suicide rate was 4.8 per 100,000, with a male to female ratio of 3.8:1. For both males and females, suicide was more prevalent among older teens. Rates continued to increase with age in males, while female suicide rates were highest at age 16, decreasing at age 17. Non-Hispanic White youth, American-Indian youth, and males of all ethnic groups were overrepresented among suicides compared to their percentage in the general population. Seventy-six percent of suicide victims killed themselves in their own homes or yards; 24 percent chose some other location, including a friend's or relative's home, hotel/motel, open space, or forest. Firearm was the most frequent suicide method (58 percent), followed by hanging (30 percent), overdose (5 percent), carbon monoxide poisoning (2 percent), and other (5 percent). Hanging was more prevalent among younger victims, and firearm deaths were more prevalent among older youth. Psychiatric problems were documented in 46 percent of the cases, with depression cited in 51 percent of these cases, substance abuse in 17 percent, behavioral problems in 12 percent, impulse control and anger management in 7 percent, and other mental disorders in 13 percent of these cases. The prevalence of psychological problems was similar for males and females. Of the cases in which proximal stressors were reported, the most common acute stressors were fighting with parents and problems with a romantic partner, followed by legal problems, being disciplined at home or school, poor grades, household disruption, and pregnancy or feared pregnancy. 4 tables, 2 figures, and 13 references