ERIC Number: ED262342
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985-Apr
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Children's Suicidal Behavior.
Patros, Philip G.; Shamoo, Tonia K.
Children's suicidal behavior is surrounded by controversy with no single theory to explain or assess vulnerable children. Since accidents are the leading cause of death among children it is possible that some of these deaths are suicides. Beliefs by parents and professionals that children are not capable of suicidal behavior are being disproved as researchers substantiate suicidal behaviors in children: toxic ingestion, hanging, jumping, running into traffic, and cutting or stabbing have been documented. The most common impetus to suicide is depression. In addition, certain family patterns are significant: the loss of a significant parenting figure before age 12, pathological communication between parent and child, and ineffectual coping models. Young children who engage in suicidal behavior often have an immature concept of death, and suicide is often the end point of manipulation. Suicidal children experience significantly greater life stressors than do other children. Suicide can be an escape from an intolerable living situation or from a perceived loss. Education should be the first step to prevention and intervention; ways to facilitate this process include: (1) educating teachers in identifying children who are depressed and need help; (2) educating parents about the warning signs of suicidal children; and (3) educating children in cognitive coping skills and how to deal with stress and depression. (NRB)
Descriptors: Children, Coping, Depression (Psychology), Family Life, Parent Child Relationship, Prevention, Stress Variables, Suicide
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A