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Suicide among young people aged 10–29 in Sweden

A. Hultén, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, ävle Hospital, S-803 28 Gävle, Sweden

D. Wasserman

D. Wasserman, Department of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, S-141 86 Huddinge, and Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, Stockholm County Council, Karolinska Hospital, Sweden, Address for offprints: Danuta Wasserman MD Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry Karolinska Institute Huddinge University Hospital S-141 Huddinge Sweden

Suicide among young people aged 10–29 in Sweden. Hultén, A., Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Gävle Hospital, S-803 28 Gävle, Sweden and Wasserman, D., Department of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, S-141 86 Huddinge, and Center for Suicide Research and Prevention Stockholm County Council, Karolinska Hospital, Sweden.

This study analyses the incidence of suicide among children and young people aged between 10 and 29 in Sweden, during the period 1974–1986 . The study comprises 4,624 individuals whose deaths were the outcome of verified, E950-E959 (n = 3,511) and undetermined, E980-E989 (n = 1,113) suicides. Regression analysis of different age groups separately and all age groups combined shows that the frequency of suicide among children and young people in Sweden did not increase in this period. Nonetheless, mortality figures are high, especially for boys and young men aged 15–29. The maximum suicide-mortality rate (43.2 per 100,000) is noted for young men aged 25–29 in 1984. The male-female ratio with respect to deaths from suicide is 2.5 for the entire group, the smallest difference being in the 15–19 age group (1.7) and the largest in the 25–29 age group (2.8). Methods of committing suicide vary between the sexes and the various age groups. Boys and young men use violent methods more often, and this situation has remained stable throughout the 13-year period. Girls use non-violent methods to a greater extent, but young women aged 18–29 use violent and non-violent methods to almost the same extent. During the 13-year period studied, a change took place in the girls' and young women's choice of methods towards more violent methods in the 1980s compared with the 1970s. Regardless of sex, there are significantly (p < 0.001) fewer married and more divorced people among those committing suicide compared with corresponding age groups in the overall population.

Key Words: suicide • children • adolescents • young people • trends • methods • marital status • Sweden • 1974–1986

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 20, No. 2, 65-72 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/140349489202000201


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