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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Suicide among children under 15 often brings tragic consequences for relatives and friends. However, evidence-based research has been limited due to ethical or sample size concerns. Given the increasing trend of suicide attempts and deaths among the young generations, more research focuses should be put on children under 15 years of age in order to trace the origins of suicide causes to inform prevention strategies early in their young lives.
METHODS: We collected a longitudinal dataset of suicide attempts of children under 15 years old from the National Suicide Surveillance System (NSSS) across 17 years between 2006 and 2022. Meanwhile, the suicide mortality figures of the young counterparts were depicted as a reference to compare with the attempt rates across 17 years. The numbers of suicide attempt reports, causes and methods of children aged under 15 were all integrated, with chronological causes of suicide attempts being analyzed by year and the collective causes and methods over 17 years being analyzed by gender.
RESULTS: During the study period, the chronological number of suicide attempts among children under 15 years of age gradually increased until COVID-19 occurred in 2020, and the numbers remained at around 2500 during the pandemic (2020-2022). About half (55.7%) of suicide attempts could be accounted for by mental health issues in this young population. Summing up the total attempt numbers across 17 years (n=13,436), more young females outnumbered the males with significant differences in causes of emotional/relationship issues and mental health/substance abuse problems, while more males attempted suicide due to school issues, physical diseases, or other factors unknown. Gender differences also showed in suicide attempt methods, with more than two times of males than females attempted suicide by falling from heights, hanging, or charcoal burning.
CONCLUSIONS: Young children were at risk of increasing suicide attempt during COVID-19, with gender-specific causes and methods being notified with implications for school leaders and policy makers in the society. The government needs to respond to children's mental health problems and impact on their well-being to potentially prevent negative outcomes such as anxiety, depression, and suicide.
Language: en |