Suicidal behavior in latency-age psychiatric inpatients: a replication and cross validation

A study of 65 psychiatric inpatients, 6-12 years old, revealed 78.5% with suicidal ideas, threats, or attempts. The high number of children from middle social status differed from a previous inpatient population of children predominantly from low social status. Findings that replicated a previous empirical study of child inpatients were high frequency of suicidal tendencies and jumping from heights; significant correlations of death preoccupations and depression with severity of suicidal behavior; and lack of significant correlations of sex, and race/ethnicity with severity of suicidal behavior. Neurophysiological variables did not significantly correlate with severity of suicidal behavior.