Psychosocial Correlates of Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Adolescents and Preadolescent Children Discharged from Emergency Department

Abstract Adolescent suicidal behavior is the most common reason adolescents present to the emergency department in pediatric hospitals. Recently, suicidal behavior has become more common in preadolescent children. It is important to understand the underlying nature of non-fatal suicidal behavior in children and how they may differ from adolescent to implicate unique prevention and management for this population. The current study aims to investigate the psychosocial characteristics associated with suicidal ideation and behaviors in an emergency department sample of 183 children and adolescents aged 7–18. All participants completed a diagnostic interview, self-report and parent-report questionnaire of psychosocial risk factors. Cross-sectional correlational and regression analyses were used to determine significant correlates of suicidal outcomes within the two age groups. The results indicated that among adolescents, suicidal thoughts and behavior were more common in females compared to males, while among children, the prevalence of males and females was similar. Depression was correlated with suicidal ideation for both adolescents and children. Moreover, anxiety and conduct symptoms correlated with suicidal behavior in children, whereas depression, anxiety, and emotional symptoms correlated with suicidal behavior in adolescents. These results add to the growing knowledge about risk factors associated with suicidality among children compared to adolescents, suggesting the importance of targeting different mechanisms in developing assessment and intervention strategies for the two populations.