Although suicide rates in children younger than 12 have remained steady for the past 20 years, a new study reveals that there are higher suicide rates among black children, Reuters reported.
Suicide ranked 14th as a cause of death among 5- to 11-year-old black children from 1993-1997 but rose to ninth from 2008-2012. For white children, suicide ranked 12th from 1993-1997 and 11th from 2008-2012. Rates have remained stable in Hispanic children and children of other races.
"When I initially looked at the results I thought we had made a mistake in the analyses because historically white youth in the United States have had higher suicide rates than black youth," Jeffrey A. Bridge of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio told Reuters.
For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The found that "hanging and suffocation were the main methods for young children," CBS News reported.
The findings highlight an emerging racial disparity in the epidemiology of childhood suicide, but why this disparity exists is not well defined. Factors influencing black youth, including increased exposure to violence and traumatic stress, early onset of puberty, and lower likelihood to seek help for depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, may be contributing to the disparity, but the specific impact of each of these risks is unclear, researchers said.
"Parents need to know that children under the age of 12 can and sometimes do think about suicide," Bridge told Reuters. "It is important to ask children directly about suicide if there is a concern about a child."
Bridge points out that further studies are needed to monitor these emerging trends and identify risk, and protective and predictive factors relevant to suicide prevention efforts in children younger than 12.
The findings are detailed in JAMA Pediatrics.
