ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN ADOLESCENTS

Two important findings emerge from this study of 100 children and adolescents who attempted suicide. The first is the association between attempted suicide and family disorganization. This has been demonstrated for adults by Batchelor and Napier who reported broken homes (deprivation in childhood of a normal life with parents) in 58% of 200 consecutive cases of attempted suicide admitted to a general hospital(1). Although the cases ranged in age from 15 to 83, only 6 were under 20. The second finding is the association between attempted suicide and delinquency, each representing acting-out behavior, not stemming from mental illness, in an attempt to control the social environment. The interrelatedness of attempted suicide, family disorganization, and delinquency is in line with the finding of investigators who have shown that family disorganization, with the concomitant factor of emotional deprivation in the formative years, gives rise to a host of problems which take different forms, e. g., mental illness, morbidity, delinquency, and crime. Prediction of the specific form that the deviant behavior will take is most difficult since it depends upon the identification and understanding of the factors that contribute to the child's personality and behavior. Such factors include the behavior of the parents, their attitudes and values, the practices employed in the rearing of children, the nature of the parent-child relationship, and many other personal and social characteristics.