Summary

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Background

#Suicide in #children is a pressing public health concern. The increasing number of deaths by #suicide and emergency visits for #suicidalideation and #self-harm in #children might not be fully representative; it is likely that many more #children are in distress but do not seek out help. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing studies to quantify the prevalence of #suicidalideation and #self-harm #behaviors among #children in the community aged 12 years and younger.

Methods

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Web of Science via OVID from database inception to Feb 28, 2022, for articles published in French or English that reported estimates of prevalence of #suicidalideation (including #suicide planning) and #self-harm #behaviors (namely, #self-harm, #suicideattempts, and non-suicidal self-injury) in #children aged 12 years and younger. Reference lists were also searched; case studies, qualitative studies, and health-care visit studies were excluded. The outcomes were #suicidalideation, #suicide plan or attempts, and #self-harm. We used a random-effects model to calculate the overall pooled prevalence of #suicidalideation and #selfharm #behaviors for all timeframes combined and for ever versus the past 12 months for #suicidalideation. We used the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tool to evaluate the risk of bias in each study. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020179041.

#James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleOrder your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife:From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy

www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com

Findings

28 articles, encompassing 30 studies overall, met the inclusion criteria, aggregating findings from 98?044 #children (of whom 46?980 were #girls and 46?136 were #boys; six articles did not report sex or gender) aged 6–12 years. The pooled prevalence estimate was 7·5% (95% CI 5·9–9·6) for #suicidalideation from 28 studies and 2·2% (2·0–2·5) for #suicide planning from three studies. The pooled prevalence was 1·4% (0·4–4·7) for #self-harm from four studies, 1·3% (1·0–1·9) for #suicideattempt from six studies, and 21·9% (6·2–54·5) for non-suicidal #self-injury from two studies. The prevalence of #suicidalideation was higher in studies that included #child-reported outcomes (10·9% for #child only and 10·4% for #child and #parent combined) than for #parent-only reported outcomes (4·7% ; p=0·0004). The prevalence of #suicidalideation and #self-harm #behaviors was similar in #boys and #girls (#suicidalideation, 7·9% for #boys vs 6·4% for #girls; #self-harm #behaviors, 3·5% for #boys vs 3·0% for #girls). Detailed ethnicity data were not available. High heterogeneity was identified across estimates (I2>90%), which was not well explained by the characteristics of the studies.

Interpretation

A high number of #children in the general population can experience #suicidalideation and #self-harm #behaviors, thus underlining the need for more research on #childhood #suicide, including developmentally appropriate preventive strategies, such as #youth-nominated support teams or dialectical #behavioral therapy.

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https://standingabovethecrowd.com/2023/01/jamesdonaldson-on-mentalhealth-prevalence-of-suicidalideation-and-self-harm-behaviors-in-children-aged-12-years-and-younger/