Clinical Differences Between Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Depressed Children and Adolescents

Objective: To examine the clinical symptoms and comorbid psychiatric disorders of depressed children and adolescents with and without clinically significant suicidal ideation.

Method: Children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years with current DSM-III-R major depressive disorder (MDD) (N = 135) were recruited between January 1987 and April 2002. Current MDD symptoms and lifetime comorbid psychiatric disorders were assessed using either a combination of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Epidemiologic and -Present Episode versions or the Present Lifetime version. Thirty-two percent (N = 43) of the depressed subjects were classified as suicidal (at least suicidal ideation with a plan).

Results: Depressed suicidal youth presented with a more severe episode (p = .001) and a poorer functional status (p = .019), were more hopeless (p = .001), and presented more frequently with insomnia (p = .011). There was an interaction between suicide X sex X pubertal status for severity of MDD (p = .013), the presence of hopelessness (p < .001), poor functional status (p = .023), and comorbidity with a lifetime history of any disruptive behavior (p = .019). Among prepubertal depressed males, suicidal boys had significantly increased severity of MDD (p = .025) and poorer functional status (p = .044) than nonsuicidal boys. Among postpubertal depressed females, suicidal girls were more frequently hopeless (p = .008) and presented an increased severity of MDD (p = .022) and more frequent lifetime history of any disruptive behavior (p = .03) when compared with nonsuicidal girls.

Conclusion: There appears to be a sex difference for some clinical features, particularly hopelessness, among depressed suicidal children and adolescents. Whether hopelessness is a sex-specific characteristic of depressed suicidal children and adolescents requires further study.