A longitudinal epidemiological comparison of suicide and other causes of death in Italian children and adolescents

The objective of the study is to evaluate temporal trends, gender effects and methods of completed suicide amongst children and adolescent (aged 10-17) when compared with temporal trends of deaths from other causes. Data were extracted from the Italian Mortality Database, which is collected by the Italian National Census Bureau (ISTAT) and processed by the Statistics Unit of National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion (CNESPS) at the National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di SanitA ). A total of 1,871 children and adolescents, age 10-17 years, committed suicide in Italy from 1971 to 2003 and 109 died by suicide during the last 3-year period of observation (2006-2008). The average suicide rate over the entire period of observation was 0.91 per 100,000; the rate was 1.21 for males and 0.59 for females. During the study period, the general mortality of children and adolescents, age 10-17 years, decreased dramatically, the average annual percentage change decrease was of -3.3% (95% CI -4.4 to -1.9) for males and -2.9% (95% IC -4.4 to -2.5) for females. The decrease was observed, for both genders, for all causes of deaths except suicide. For males, the most frequent method was hanging (54.5%), followed by shooting/fire arms (19.6%), falls/jumping from high places (12.7%); for females, the most frequent method, jumping from high places/falls, accounted for 35.7% of suicides during the whole study period. In conclusion, this study highlights that over the course of several decades suicide is a far less preventable cause of death as compared to other causes of death amongst children and adolescents. Our study demonstrated that suicide rates in adolescents are not a stable phenomenon over the 40 years period of study. It suggested that rates for males and females differed and varied in different ways during specific time periods of this study. National suicide prevention actions should parallel prevention measures implemented to reduce other causes of death

Depression, suicide, and giftedness: Disentangling risk factors, protective factors, and implications for optimal growth

Although exact incidences of depression and suicide among the gifted remain unknown, they are most likely in line with that of the larger student population. In the present chapter, we invoke two theoretical frameworks-person-environment fit theory and the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent Development-to understand how intrapersonal, interpersonal, environmental, and developmental risk and protective factors manifest uniquely for gifted student populations. To better reflect the current status of gifted student development in the twenty-first century, we place special emphasis on two recent trends: social media use and cyberbullying, in addition to reviewing traditional literature as it relates to risk and protective factors. We place much emphasis on understanding possible unique contributors to the development of depression and suicide ideation among gifted students, but also on providing strategies for helping parents, teachers, and other caregivers. Implications of this chapter are for those who are interested in developing intervention strategies that consider developmental as well as epidemiological factors when exploring depression and suicide among the gifted