The prevalence of suicides among children and adolescents around the world

Information available in the world literature on the incidence of suicides among children and adolescents is not numerous and, as a rule, contradictory. It can be seen from the table that the highest suicide rate in this age group, which was 50-60 cases per 100,000 male adolescents and 30-40 female cases, was registered in the 50-60s of the XX century. In Japan and in Taiwan. These indicators were ten times higher than those in the United States, where child-teen suicides were very rarely recorded in those years (0.4-1.2 cases). Subsequently, this difference became less pronounced due to a decrease in the prevalence of suicides in Japan to 25 and a rise in their level in the United States to 13-14 per 100,000 adolescents, with the prevalence of suicides among black-skinned American teens being significantly lower than among whites.

Prevalence of completed suicides in children and adolescents around the world

A country	Years of study	Age of suicides, years	The indicator per 100 000 persons of the given age
Japan	1955-1958	12-24	53.8-60.2 (m)
			36.4-39.3 (g)
	1962-1981	15-24	25.0 (Medium)
	1955-1975	10-14	0.4-1.2
	1961		3.4
	1968	15-19	7.8
USA	1977		14.2
	1978	0-15	0.8
		15-19	7.6
	1980	15-24	13.3
	1984	15-19	9.0
Czechoslovakia	1961		13.0 (m)
	1969	15-19	(g) (m)
			15.0 (g)
Taiwan	1962-1964	12-24	47.8-52.2 (m)
			32.2-37.9 (g)
West Germany	1970	15-24	10.1
England	1979-1982	15-24	2.6 (students)
	1996	10-19	8.8 (not students)
The USSR (Kazakhstan)	1984	Up to 20	4.4
	1986		3.1
Russia (the Kemerovo region)	1980	10-14	0.8
	1994	10-14	4.6
1994	15-19	49.9
Russia (Tomsk)	1996-1998	15-24	35.2 (medium)

In European countries, the prevalence of suicides in children and adolescents (per 100,000 population of this age group) ranged from 2-8 cases in England to 13-36 in the former Czechoslovakia. In recent decades, the world has formed the view that adolescence, along with the elderly, is the most suicidally dangerous.

An analysis of the dynamics of the prevalence of suicides shows that in most countries of the world there is a distinct tendency to increase their incidence in all age groups of the population, especially at a fast pace among young people. For example, in the US suicide as the cause of death in the general population is ranked 11th in frequency, and among young people (15-24 years) - 3rd, after accidents and murders. In American students, suicide as the cause of overall mortality came in second place after injury.

According to the observations of PSHolinger (1978), in the USA for the period 1961-1975. The frequency of homicides of young people has doubled, and the number of suicides has tripled. In addition, during these years, the prevalence of suicide in adolescence increased by 2.2 times. An even more pronounced increase in the prevalence of suicide in the United States among young people occurred in the 1990s: in boys aged 15-19 years, the suicide rate increased by 4, and in girls of the same age by a factor of 3, while as the average indicators of completed suicides in the remaining age categories of the population remained stable.

M.G. Me Clure (1984), based on a statistical analysis of suicides in England and Wales, also concluded that their incidence in adolescents is increasing, whereas in children up to the age of 14, suicides were relatively rare. At the same time, CR Pfeffer (1981) cited statistical data confirming the tendency in the United States to increase the incidence of suicidal behavior in children aged 6-12 years. The frequency of child suicides in France has doubled in the past decade, although these cases are still considered "exceptional" in the country. Note that, according to AOLopatin (1995), in the Kemerovo region of Russia, the level of suicides in childhood increased during the period 1980-1994. Almost 6 times.

There is information of the opposite nature. Thus, D. Shaffer and P. Fischer (1981) noted that suicides in children and adolescents are rare compared to adults, and their frequency varies little over time. According to their observations, in 1978, in the United States, among all causes of death of children and adolescents, suicides were 2.4 and 8%, respectively. Among all the suicides committed in the country for the analyzed year, children and adolescent suicides accounted for only 0.6 and 6.2%, respectively. Based on the data presented, the authors concluded that the incidence of suicides in children and adolescents is low and relatively stable.

It should be noted that most researchers do not share this point of view. Moreover, GLKlerman (1987) points out the terrifying epidemic nature of the prevalence of adolescent suicide in recent decades. In his view, the increase in the prevalence of depression, alcoholism and drug addiction among people born after the Second World War during the so-called children's boom was a prerequisite for a subsequent increase in the incidence of suicide and suicide attempts. There is also an opinion that suicides, murders and accidents in children and adolescents should be taken into account together, because they are the three sides of the so-called epidemic of self-destruction.

The prevalence of attempted suicide in children and adolescents is almost unknown compared to completed suicides, as official statistics bodies do not collect such data worldwide. The frequency of suicide attempts can often be judged only by indirect data, but the differences in the methods of collecting them in different countries make it difficult to assess the results of such studies.

Indisputable is only the fact that in adolescence the number of suicidal attempts is several times higher than the number of suicides that have been completed. This pattern is found in most countries where relevant studies have been carried out. Thus, in European countries among adolescents, one completed suicide accounts for an average of 8-10 suicidal attempts. An even greater difference in the frequency between completed suicides and suicide attempts is indicated by H. Hendin (1985), according to which the frequency of attempted suicide and completed suicide in the United States is determined by the ratio of 100: 1. According to A.G. Ambrumova and E.M. Vrono (1983), and H. Jacobziener (1985), in children and adolescents, death does not end more than 1% of attempted suicide.

The study of the literature on the dynamics of the prevalence of suicidal attempts in children and adolescents has shown that in recent decades there has been a significant increase in their frequency in different countries of the world. Thus, according to FECrumley (1982), in the USA for the period from 1968 to 1976, the number of people aged 15-19 who committed suicide attempts doubled and reached 5000 cases per year. In the 90s of XX century. In the country, children and adolescents annually committed 1 to 2 million suicidal attempts, in addition, over the same period about 12,000 children and adolescents were hospitalized in connection with an attempted suicide.

M.Shafii et al. (1985) show that over 8 years, the number of children and adolescents with suicidal behavior, under the supervision of the children's psychiatric service in Louisville, increased 6.3-fold and accounted for 20% of all applications to this service. BD Garfinkel et al. (1982), after examining all children and adolescents who got to the first aid station of a US children's hospital for a suicide attempt, found that such cases averaged 0.3% of all receipts for the year.

In France, suicide attempts are being made by 0.4% of adolescents. In Poland, G.Swiatecka and J.Niznikiwicz (1980) found that the number of children and adolescents aged 12-20 years who entered a psychiatric hospital due to suicidal attempts for 20 years (1958-1978) increased 4-fold. In one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Czechoslovakia, there was also an increase in the number of minors attempting suicide, the number of those hospitalized in this regard amounted to 23.2% of the total number of all receipts.

H.Haefner (1983) explains the sharp shifts in the frequency of suicide attempts over the years with changes in the culture of ethnic groups. The most significant fluctuations are observed in the age groups most sensitive to changes in the social environment, i.e. Among adolescents and boys.

Thus, an analysis of foreign literature on the prevalence of suicidal behavior among children and adolescents has revealed an extremely wide range of indicators of their frequency. This indicates the differences in the methods of registration and the methods of statistical processing of relevant information in different countries and even within one country. The lack of complete information and differences in the methodological principles of research (for example, the incompatibility of age groups, the lack of a clear gradation of adolescent, children and adolescents) make it difficult to study the data.

In our country, studies of the prevalence of suicides in children and adolescents have not been carried out. We can name only a few works, in particular, the study of A.G. Ambromova (1984), in which she came to the conclusion that in the USSR the share of teenage suicides is small compared to that of adults, but it tends to grow. So, in 1983, the share of youth under 20 years accounted for 3.2%, and in 1987 - already 4% of all committed suicides.

In summary, we can conclude that suicide and suicide attempts are increasing in children and adolescents in most countries of the world. Especially disturbing is the tendency to increase the growth rate of these indicators.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9],