Trends in Attempted Suicide in Adolescents and Young Adults in Gent, 1986–1995

Abstract

This paper describes gender-specific trends in the occurrence and methods of attempted suicide in adolescents and young adults between 1986 and 1995 in Gent. The overall pattern emerging from this study is that following a decrease in the rates of attempted suicide in the second half of the 1980s, rates have clearly increased in the 1990s, especially among adolescent males. A slight predominance of female attempters was found in the 15 to 19 age group while among young adults the female to male ratio was approximately 1.0. Deliberate self-poisoning was involved in the vast majority of attempts, although among young adults significantly more males than females used deliberate self-injury to attempt suicide. In view of increasing rates of suicide among young people in many countries and of the association between attempted suicide and suicide, further study of trends and characteristics of attempted suicide among young people is warranted.