Suicídio na infância e adolescência: fatores de risco e prevenção

Suicide is a worrying phenomenon, being one of the ten leading causes of death worldwide. At school age and in adolescence, suicidal ideation is becoming more common, being a multifactorial phenomenon. Despite greater concern about the subject, research is scarce despite the importance of better understanding this issue. To investigate the risk factors associated with suicide; to identify if there are differences regarding the approach of the problematic concerning the phase of development; importance of preventing this phenomenon. The methodology used was based on the meta-analysis applied to a systematic and careful review of 36 articles of a scientific nature on the subject of suicide and that were published in the period from 2000 to 2016. Regarding risk factors related to suicide in 17% of the articles was approached the substance addition (alcohol consumption, drugs, antidepressants), in 16% the psychiatric disorders and family problems in 15%. There are also, in descending order of reference, the school difficulties; cognitive problems; eating disorders and bullying. In 72% of the articles, a distinction is made between suicide in childhood and in other ages, with a special focus on this growing phenomenon. As far as the preventive aspect is concerned, only 33% of the articles present proposals or revision on the prevention, being that in only 5,5% of these the ones are specifically directed to the childhood. Suicidal behaviours are multidetermined in a complex interrelationship between behavioural, psychiatric and contextual factors. It emphasizes the low investment in prevention that arises as a very residual field in the analysed articles.