Abstract

Assesment of sociodemographic and psychiatric characteristics of attempted suicide in children and adolescents. The aim of this study is to identify risk factors and sociodemographic, psychiatric characteristics of adolescents and children who attempted suicide. Suicide attempters (range 7-15 years, fifty-eight cases) who referred to Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic between January 2003 and January 2005 were analyzed retrospectively, in terms of sex, age, living residence, number of suicide attempts, educational achievement and level, psychiatric examinations, method of suicide, precipitating events, psychiatric evaluations of parents, socioeconomic status in our study. The majority of subjects were girls (89.7%). The commonest age group involved was 15-16 years (46.6%). Girls, aged 15-16 years, from middle-low socioeconomic status with low achievement at school, living in urban area were found to be risky group for suicide attempt. From the view of low tolerance to problems, insufficient coping abilites in youth; acquirement of problem solving capacity and aiding in familiar problems solutions may be efficient in prevention and treatment of suicide.

Key words: Child, adolescent, attempted suıicide

Article Language: Turkish English