Suicidal Behavior in Normal School Children: A Comparison with Child Psychiatric Inpatients

A study of 101 randomly selected preadolescent school children, who had never been psychiatric patients, revealed 11.9% with suicidal ideas, threats, or attempts. Suicidal ideas were expressed in 8.9% of the school children. Suicidal school children differed from nonsuicidal school children in greater preoccupation with death, more recent and past depression, more suicidal impulses in the mothers, and a greater tendency to use introjection as an ego defense. These factors were similar to those found in a comparison of suicidal and nonsuicidal psychiatric inpatients. Factors that contribute to the risk of suicidal behavior in children are described.