Increases in Rates of Suicide and Suicide Attempts Among Black Adolescents.

Abstract

Over the last 10 years, the rate of adolescents ages 15 to 19 committing suicide in the United States increased drastically, with an overall rate of 6.7 suicides per 100 000 per year in 2007 and a rate of 11.8 per 100 000 per year in 2017.1 The rate increased for both boys and girls as well as among white, black, and Hispanic adolescents (Table 1). The group with the most dramatic increase was black girls: 1.2 suicides per 100 000 per year in 2007 and 4.0 per 100 000 per year in 2017. View this table: TABLE 1 Rates of Suicide by Sex and Race Among Adolescents Ages 15–19 in 2007 and 20171 Suicide, nonetheless, is an infrequent event. Identifying adolescents at increased danger is aided by the use of suicide risk factors, such as depression and bipolar disorder; substance intoxication … Address correspondence to Benjamin N. Shain, MD, PhD, NorthShore University HealthSystem, 49 S Waukegan Rd, Deerfield, IL 60015. E-mail: aias{at}ix.netcom.com