Journal of Child & Adolescent Behavior
Kolves and De Leo, J Child Adolesc Behav 2015, 3:3 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2375-4494.1000209
Research Article
Open Access
Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Suicides: A Comparison Based on the Queensland Suicide Registry Kairi Kõlves and Diego De Leo* Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Griffith Univeristy, Australia *Corresponding author: Diego De Leo, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Griffith Univeristy, Australia, Tel: 61 7 -3735 3366; Fax: 61- 7 3735 3450; E-mail:
[email protected] Received date: Mar 25, 2015, Accepted date: May 21, 2015, Published date: May 28, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Kolves K, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract Objective: The incidence of suicides increases rapidly up to the age of 20 years. Despite major developmental changes, only a limited number of studies has compared characteristics of child, adolescent and young adult suicides. The aim of the current study was to compare demographic, psychosocial and psychiatric characteristics of suicides in three youngest age groups - 10-14 years, 15-19 years and 20-24 years - in Queensland, Australia, between 2002 and 2011. Methods: The Queensland Suicide Register (QSR) contains information from a variety of sources, including: police report of death to a Coroner, post-mortem autopsy report, toxicology report and Coroner’s findings. Annual suicide rates were calculated by gender and age group. Odds Ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), Chi2 test are presented. Results: Between 2002 and 2011, there were 850 youth suicides recorded in the QSR - 43 aged 10-14 years, 295 aged 15-19 years and 512 aged 20-24 years. The proportion of males increased with age (51.2%, 69.5% and 76.6%). However, the proportion of Indigenous people decreased significantly with age (45.2%, 18.1% and 14.5%). Hanging was the most frequent suicide method for all age groups and for both genders, decreasing significantly with age for both genders. Prevalence of a diagnosed psychiatric disorder, substance use and psychiatric treatment increased with age. Evidence of untreated mental health problems was reported without significant differences between age groups. Similarly, there were no significant differences in history of previous suicide attempts and communication of suicide intent. Suicide in social group and attention to suicide in media, family conflict, school/ work-related problems and childhood trauma decreased significantly with age while relationship problems increased. Conclusion: Suicides in early adolescence were characterised by higher prevalence of family conflicts, schoolrelated problems and suicides in social groups. Suicides in young adults had significantly higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders and were much more impacted by relationship problems. The characteristics of suicides in late adolescents fell in between the other age groups.
Keywords: Suicide; Children; Adolescents; Young adults; Psychiatric disorders; Life events
Introduction The incidence of suicide increases rapidly throughout teenage years. While globally suicide rates are approximately 1 per 100,000 in the age group 10-14 years, they rise almost 10-fold in age group 15-19 years [1,2]. This phenomenon is not unexpected, as it coincides with major developmental changes of a maturing young person. Suicide rates stabilize in early adulthood [3]. Suicides in adolescents are impacted by a variety of factors including: psychological, psychiatric, genetic, social and cultural factors [4]. Although there are several studies focusing on adolescent suicide and suicidal behaviours, only a limited number compare characteristics of child and adolescent suicides, or adolescent and young adult suicides [5]. Considering major developmental differences between these groups, the aim of the current analysis was to examine
J Child Adolesc Behav ISSN:2375-4494 JCALB, an open access journal
demographic, psychosocial and psychiatric differences in suicides in three youngest age groups – children/early adolescents (10-14 years), late adolescents (15-19 years) and young adults (20-24 years) - in Queensland, Australia, between 2002 and 2011.
Methods The Queensland suicide register (QSR) The QSR is a comprehensive suicide database maintained by the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP). The QSR holds the records for all suicides in Queensland since 1990 and is currently the only research database of suicides in Australia. The information comes from a variety of sources, such as police report of death to a Coroner (Form 1), post-mortem autopsy report, toxicology report and Coroner’s findings, including narrative of circumstances of death (who the deceased person was, and how, when and where the person died).
Volume 3 • Issue 3 • 1000209
Citation:
Kairi K, De Leo D (2015) Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Suicides: A Comparison Based on the Queensland Suicide Registry. J Child Adolesc Behav 3: 209. doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000209
Page 2 of 5 Documents are crosschecked with records from the National Coronial Information System (NCIS). Following the Suicide Classification Flow Chart, (developed by AISRAP), all suicide cases in the QSR are classified into one of three categories: Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Probable, or Possible [6]. For the present analyses only those cases falling into the categories of either Beyond Reasonable Doubt or Probable are included.
Statistical analysis Annual suicide rates were calculated by gender and age group. Poisson regression was used to analyse In order to compare three age groups Chi-square test was used. In order to compare two age groups, Odds Ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. Age group 15-19 years was used as reference group when calculating OR. With small numbers (less than 5), Fisher’s exact test was used. SPSS 22.0 was employed for all data analyses.
Results Between 2002 and 2011, 850 youth suicides were recorded in the QSR: 43 children/early adolescents aged 10-14 years, 295 late adolescents aged 15-19 years, and 512 young adults aged 20-24 years. Figure 1 shows that suicide numbers grow rapidly with age until the age of 20 years and stabilize in early 20s. The proportion of males increased with age: 51.2%, 69.5% and 76.6% respectively (Chi2=15.47, df=2, p
