Regions with the Highest Suicide Rates for Children and Adolescents ? Some Observations

Abstract

Childhood is often perceived as a time of innocence and happiness; unfortunately, this is not true to all children. The concept of happy childhood devastatingly conflicts with suicide in children. Indeed, research has shown that the majority of children are able to understand the meaning of self-inflicted death from 8 years of age on, and are capable to engage in suicidal behaviours. Although suicide in children represents a relatively rare event, it is still one of the leading causes of death in the age group 10-14 years. Suicide prevalence increases in adolescence, a phenomenon that is not unexpected, as this constitutes the time of rapid developmental changes. Similarly to adults, suicide rates in children and adolescents greatly vary between countries. Our recent analysis of 81 countries between 2000 and 2009 based on the WHO Mortality database revealed that the highest suicide rates for children and adolescent in both sexes were mainly found in the former Soviet Union and Central and South America... Language: en