Biomaterial Database

Age- and sex-related risk factors for adolescent suicide. 1999

D A Brent, and M Baugher, and J Bridge, and T Chen, and L Chiappetta

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh. brentda@msx.upmc.edu

OBJECTIVE To examine the impact of age and sex on adolescent suicide risk. METHODS A standard psychological autopsy protocol was used to compare 140 suicide victims with 131 community controls. The risk factors for older (> or = 16 years) and younger, and for male and female suicide were compared. RESULTS Mood disorders, parental psychopathology, lifetime history of abuse, availability of a gun, and past suicide attempt conveyed significant risk for suicide across all 4 demographic groups. Psychopathology, particularly substance abuse (alone and comorbid with mood disorder), was more common and conveyed a much higher risk for suicide in the older versus younger adolescents. Younger suicide victims showed lower suicidal intent. Males chose more irreversible methods, and conduct disorder was both more prevalent and a more significant risk factor in males. CONCLUSIONS The increased rate of suicide in older versus younger adolescents is due in part to greater prevalence of psychopathology, namely substance abuse, and greater suicidal intent in the older population. The increased rate in males is less easily explained, but it may stem from method choice and the greater prevalence of and risk conveyed by conduct disorder in males.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D010287	Parent-Child Relations	The interactions between parent and child.	Parent-Offspring Interaction,Parent Child Relationship,Parent-Child Relationship,Interaction, Parent-Offspring,Parent Child Relations,Parent Child Relationships,Parent Offspring Interaction,Parent-Child Relation,Parent-Child Relationships,Parent-Offspring Interactions,Relation, Parent-Child,Relationship, Parent Child,Relationship, Parent-Child
D005190	Family	A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.	Family Life Cycles,Family Members,Family Life Cycle,Family Research,Filiation,Kinship Networks,Relatives,Families,Family Member,Kinship Network,Life Cycle, Family,Life Cycles, Family,Network, Kinship,Networks, Kinship,Research, Family
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000367	Age Factors	Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.	Age Reporting,Age Factor,Factor, Age,Factors, Age
D001523	Mental Disorders	Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.	Mental Illness,Psychiatric Diseases,Psychiatric Disorders,Psychiatric Illness,Behavior Disorders,Diagnosis, Psychiatric,Mental Disorders, Severe,Psychiatric Diagnosis,Illness, Mental,Mental Disorder,Mental Disorder, Severe,Mental Illnesses,Psychiatric Disease,Psychiatric Disorder,Psychiatric Illnesses,Severe Mental Disorder,Severe Mental Disorders
D012307	Risk Factors	An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, inborn or inherited characteristic, which, based on epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.	Health Correlates,Risk Factor Scores,Risk Scores,Social Risk Factors,Population at Risk,Populations at Risk,Correlates, Health,Factor, Risk,Factor, Social Risk,Factors, Social Risk,Risk Factor,Risk Factor Score,Risk Factor, Social,Risk Factors, Social,Risk Score,Score, Risk,Score, Risk Factor,Social Risk Factor
D012737	Sex Factors	Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.	Factor, Sex,Factors, Sex,Sex Factor