Citation

Pfeffer CR, Klerman GL, Hurt SW, Kakuma T, Peskin JR, Siefker CA. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 1993; 32(1): 106-113.

Affiliation

Cornell University Medical College, NY.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8428862

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Rates and psychosocial risk factors for suicide attempts during a 6 to 8-year follow-up period were compared for 25 predominantly prepubertal inpatient suicide attempters, 28 inpatient suicidal ideators, 16 nonsuicidal inpatients, and 64 nonpatients. METHOD: Standard research instruments were used to interview subjects and parents. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for a suicide attempt in the follow-up. RESULTS: No deaths occurred during follow-up. Suicide attempters were six times and suicidal ideators were three times more likely than were nonpatients to attempt suicide during follow-up. Poor social adjustment and mood disorder close to a recurrent suicide attempt were the strongest risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Risk assessment should focus on identifying symptoms of mood disorders and impaired social adjustment in children with histories of suicide attempts and psychiatric hospitalization.

Language: en