소아자살 및 자살기도

Suicide and Attempted Suicide in Children

The authers intended to find what the direct reasons and the environmental factors of suicide in children were, because it is becomming a public health problem of increasing significance. During the period from Sep. 1. 1980 to Aug. 31. 1981, we studied 11 children with suicidal attempt or committed suicide. Their age distribution was 11 to 14. The rate of suicidal attempts appeared twice as higher among the first and the last children than the middle children. Ten cases were in the medium and low-income group. Occupational status revealed that fathers 4 cases were unemployed, and mothers of 8 cases were employed. Especially in the female group, only the fathers of 2 cases were employed and mothers of all cases had to have jobs. The marital discord in parents was noticed in 9 cases and especially 7 cases had alcoholic fathers in their family. Most of the suicidal attempts occurred from Monday to Wednesday i.e. early days of the week and during the day time. Seven children planned or intended to die with others such as sibling or friends when they attempted suicide. There were 3 cases of committed suicide among 11 cases and a girl had a history of previous suicidal attempt.