Externally Peer Reviewed Depression in children and adolescents is a significant health problem in the United States and is often overlooked or misdiagnosed in the primary care setting. A family history of depression, particularly parental, is a major risk factor for childhood depression, but no other specific risk factors have been consistently identified. Complications of depression in childhood and adolescence include poor school performance, poor peer relations, alcohol and drug use, promiscuity, teenage pregnancy, other psychiatric illness, and suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among persons aged 15 to 24 years, following unintentional injuries and homicide. The rate of suicide among young males is five times that among young females.
Firearms are the most common method of suicide for young males and females.
Among young females, attempted suicide is reported more frequently than is completed suicide, although no national data are available. Risk factors for suicide frequently occur in combination. The strongest risk factors for both attempted and completed suicide by children and adolescents are mental disorders, especially clinical depression and conduct problems, and substance abuse. Other risk factors include a family history of mental or addictive disorders or suicide, family violence, previous suicide attempts, and availability and accessibility of firearms in the home. Acute adverse life events such as incarceration or the breakup of a relationship, in association with an underlying psychiatric disorder or other risk factors, and the presence of a firearm in the home can be a potentially dangerous combination leading to suicide.