HHS HealthBeat (January 17, 2012)

Children attempting suicide

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A study indicates that young people who attempt suicide may do it at surprisingly young ages. University of Washington researcher James Mazza saw it in survey data on 883 18- or 19-year-olds who had attempted suicide. He says almost 40 percent said their first attempt was made before high school:

``The earliest age was age 9, so that’s either third or fourth grade. And there’s a sharp increase at sixth grade, so that’s age 12. They continue to rise, with the peak being eighth to ninth grade.’’  (9 seconds)

Mazza says parents and kids need to talk about these things – and parents can check in on the kids’ moods, notably depression.

The study in the Journal of Adolescent Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: January 17, 2012