Suicide among Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults - United States, 1980- 1992

Suicide was the fifth leading cause of years of potential life lost before age 65 in 1990, according to unpublished data collected in 1995 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During 1980-1992, 67,369 persons age 25 and younger, (children, adolescents, and young adults) committed suicide and, in 1992, persons in this age group accounted for 16.4% of all suicides. From 1952-1992, the incidence of suicide among adolescents and young adults nearly tripled.[1] One national health objective for the year 2000 is to reduce the suicide rate for persons ages 15-19 by more than 25% to 8.2 per 100,000 persons (objective 7.2a).[2] This report summarizes trends in suicide among persons age 25 and younger from 1980-1992, the latest year for which complete data are available.

Trends in suicide among young persons were determined using final mortality data from the CDC's underlying cause of death files.[3] Suicides and methods of fatal injury were determined by using codes from International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision. Suicide rates were calculated using population data from the 1980 and 1990 …

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Publication information: Article title: Suicide among Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults - United States, 1980- 1992. Contributors: Not available. Journal title: Journal of School Health. Volume: 65. Issue: 7 Publication date: September 1995. Page number: 272+. © 1999 American School Health Association. COPYRIGHT 1995 Gale Group.

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