Psychosocial aspects of deliberate physical suicide attempts by children and adolescents

ENSuicide is the second most common cause of death among young people in Lithuania. This study aimed to evaluate circumstance, and conditions possibly related to suicide attempt in adolescents. Study was performed at the tertiary Children’s Hospital. Medical documentation of the suicide attempts from January 2011 to April 2018 was analyzed. There were 102 cases included in the study: 83.8% female and 16.2% male patients (average age of 15.02 ± 1.9); 40.6% of patients lived in divorced families, 17.7% in orphanages, 4.2% in foster care; 36.4% suffered from parental alcoholism, and 17.2% experienced suicide in close surroundings; 54.1% experienced bullying or violence (26.0%), and 85.4% showed signs of other types of self-harm, girls more often (P <.001). In 52.8% of cases, the attempt was spontaneous, and 34% relapsed. In summary female gender, living in orphanages, and signs of other self-harm were significantly related to suicide attempt. Keywords: physical suicide attempt, adolescent, self-harm, comorbidities, bullying, violence.