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Introduction: Psychiatric illness and suicide attempts are important risk factors for suicide in young people. To what extent suicidal behaviour in childhood predicts suicidal behaviour and suicide later in life is not known, and studies concerning suicidal behaviour and psychopathology in children are limited. The objective of the study was to describe suicidal behaviour in children referred to child psychiatric assessment concerning the frequency and characteristics of the suicidal behaviour and the psychiatric diagnoses of the children. Material and methods: Children under the age of 15 from the County of Copenhagen referred to child psychiatric ward because of suicidal behaviour. The period studied was January 1st 1998 to December 31st 2000. Data regarding the children were collected from a clinical database and medical records. Children seen at other wards by child psychiatric consultants have not been included in the descriptive part of the study. Results: The incidence of referred children corresponds to a rate of suicidal behaviour of 63.0 per 100,000. A total of 126 children were referred. 62 were patients in a child psychiatric ward. Among these, 97% were diagnosed as having psychiatric problems. Children with suicidal risk made out 6% of all referred children. The ratio of boys to girls was 53:73. Most of the girls were aged 13-14 and the boys 8-12. Seven boys suffered from psychoses and pervasive developmental disorders, the rest of the boys from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders and mixed disorders of conduct and emotions. The oldest girls were suffering from personality disorders. Poisoning was common among the girls and more violent selfdestructive acts characterized the suicidal behaviour of the boys. Discussion: Suicidal behaviour was associated with psychopathology in most children referred. Serious psychiatric disturbances as psychotic disorders were found in boys as young as seven years of age, and personality disorders were most common in the girls. Sex differences in suicidal behaviour known from studies of adolescents and adult people seem to be manifested early in childhood. Perspectives: Prospective studies are needed to clarify the association of psychopathology and suicidal behaviour in childhood and later suicidal behaviour and suicide.

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