In suicidal behavior emergency room admissions of 13-to 17-year olds at the Brockton Hospital (Massachusetts), females predominated over males by almost two to one. For subclassification of life-threatening behaviors, frequency was about the same for males and females, but for suicide attempts and suicide gestures, female frequency was two to four times that of males. Repeat episodes of self-inflicted injury were more common among females. The type of the initial episode was a powerful predictor of a repeat occurrence. (Am J Public Health 1985; 75:90-92.)
The authors designed a pilot study to test if exposure to child abuse or neglect is associated with suicidal behavior in adolescence. Each of 159 adolescents who had attempted suicide was age- and sex-matched with two comparison subjects who had been treated for medical conditions unrelated to suicide attempts. The registry of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services was searched for the names of the subjects and comparison subjects. For both sexes prior contact with the Department of Social Services was three to six times more likely for probands than for the comparison subjects.
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