Suicidal Ideation Among Urban Nine and Ten Year Olds

Abstract

Little is known about rates and correlates of suicidal ideation among nonclinical samples of preadolescents from low-income urban backgrounds. Using the Children's Depression Inventory, we measured suicidal ideation in 131 preadolescent urban children (49% female, 90% African American/Caribbean) participating in an ongoing prospective longitudinal study of prenatal cocaine exposure and children's outcome. Suicidal ideation was reported by 14.5% of the children in this sample at 9 to 10 years of age. Children's reports of depressive symptoms, exposure to violence, and distress symptoms in response to witnessing violence were associated with suicidal ideation, but prenatal cocaine exposure, parent-rated child behavior, and caregivers' psychological distress symptoms were not. Suicidal ideation may be more prevalent among preadolescents from urban, low-income backgrounds than clinicians suspect, particularly among children exposed to violence. Index termssuicidal ideation; preadolescent; violence; Child Depression Inventory; prenatal cocaine exposure; urban Over the past two decades, the rate of completed suicide has been on the rise for nearly every age group. Suicide claimed the lives of over 29,000 people in the United States during the year 2000 alone and is currently the 11th leading cause of death of all Americans. 1 Among Address for reprints: Catherine O'Leary Eckel,

Suicidal ideation in adolescents aged 11 to 15 years: prevalence and associated factors

“…17 Although this study has several strengths, it also has some limitations. Although Kovacs, 18 the original author of CDI, recommended that scores 1 and 2 of item 9 should be considered as an endorsement of suicidal ideation, and previous studies with adolescents with similar objectives have used them, 19,20 the measure of suicidal ideation in our study was based on just one question of a depressive scale. Differences in measures of suicidal ideation might cause incongruence among research findings.…”

Involvement in Bullying and Suicide-Related Behavior at 11 Years: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study

“…This study 11 did not include pure bullies, and those defined as bully-victims were not found to be at increased risk of suicide ideation. 11 Suicide ideation has been repeatedly observed in child populations, 11,25,26 and crucially, there is consistent evidence linking preadolescent suicidal ideation with later suicide attempts in adolescence. 27,28 With adolescence comes an increased risk of psychopathology, more freedom and cognitive resources; 1 all of which may heighten the risk of acting upon suicide ideation.…”

“…Further, the extent to which these associations were independent of other risk factors for suicide was tested. Both psychopathological (internalizing and externalizing problems 17,26 ) and psychosocial (abuse, domestic violence 25 and harsh parenting 29 ) risk factors were incorporated into the analyses.…”

Understanding Youth Violence in Kumasi: Does Community Socialization Matter? A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Though there is no direct causality, there is a higher risk of association between community exposure to violence and subsequent active or passive perpetuation of violence. In the United States, the immediate primary outcomes of child's early exposure to violence within a violent-prone community as demonstrated during youthful years are linked to suicide ideation [21][22][23] and stress and anxiety as reported by Seal et al [24] (cf. O'Leary et al [23]).…”

“…In the United States, the immediate primary outcomes of child's early exposure to violence within a violent-prone community as demonstrated during youthful years are linked to suicide ideation [21][22][23] and stress and anxiety as reported by Seal et al [24] (cf. O'Leary et al [23]). Theoretically, Bronfenbrenner's [25] ecological systems theory has been applied extensively to explain how violence occurs within the social system.…”