Washington, Jan 13 (Inditop.com) Adolescents and parents need help in identifying teenagers who are suicidal, says a study.
In the US in 2006, 1,771 children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 committed suicide, making suicide the third leading cause of death in this age group.
To design a better suicide prevention programme, researchers set out to understand what interventions would be most effective.
In focus groups in Chicago and Kansas City, both teenagers and their parents correctly identified many of the known risk factors for suicide, including mental illness, alcohol and substance abuse, social loss and hopelessness.
However, study authors said it was a matter of concern that some of the parents reported regular drug and alcohol use as being a normal part of adolescent development, rather than problem behaviour.
Parents and teenagers suggested guns should be removed if an adolescent is known to be suicidal, but parents acknowledged they may not be able to identify a suicidal teenager.
Parents and teenagers didn’t think suicide was a problem in their communities. All groups were interested in learning how to identify and intervene with a suicidal adolescent, said a release of the American Academy of Paediatrics.
Study authors conclude paediatricians should regularly screen all adolescents in their offices and encourage families to be open to discussing depression and suicide.
The report is slated for publication in the February issue of Paediatrics.
