Surveillance Summary Youth Suicide -- United States, 1970-
1980
Between 1970 and 1980, 49,496 of the nation's youth (15-24
years
of age) committed suicide. The suicide rate for this age group
increased 40% (from 8.8 deaths per 100,000 population in 1970 to
12.3/100,000 in 1980), while the rate for the remainder of the
population remained stable. Young adults (20-24 years of age) had
approximately twice the number and rate of suicides as teenagers
(15-19 years old).
This increase in suicide for persons 15-24 years of age is due
primarily to an increasing rate of suicide among young males:
rates
for males increased by 50% (from 13.5 to 20.2) compared with a 2%
increase for females (4.2 to 4.3), so that by 1980, for this age
group, the ratio of suicides committed by males to those committed
by
females was almost 5 to 1 (Figure 3). Most (89.5%) young male
suicide
victims were white. Moreover, the white male group showed a marked
upward trend in suicide rates from 1970 to 1980; in fact, suicide
rates for young white men have increased in each of the past three
decades. Although rates increased for young males of black and
other
races, their rates remained lower than rates for young white males.
Rates for young white females and for females of black and other
races
were approximately equal and relatively stable over time.
The western United States had consistently higher youth suicide
rates from 1970 to 1980 than the other three regions (North
Central,
Northeastern, and Southern). However, this difference in rates had
narrowed substantially by 1980 because rates for each of the other
regions increased over the period.
The method of suicide changed significantly from 1970 to 1980.
The proportion of suicides committed with firearms increased for
both
young males and females (15-24 years old), and the proportion of
both
males and females committing suicide by poisoning declined. The
changes were more marked among females, who, in the past, have most
commonly committed suicide by poisoning (Figure 4).
Data show that among persons 15-24 years of age, young white
male
adults (20-24 years old) have the highest suicide risk. Further
research is needed to explain the marked increase in suicide among
young white males, to characterize their deaths more precisely, and
to
develop and evaluate effective ways to prevent these deaths.
Copies of the entire Youth Suicide Surveillance Summary: 1970-1980
(issued November 1986) are available from the Division of Injury
Epidemiology and Control, Center for Environmental Health, Centers
for
Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, telephone number (404)
454-4690, FTS 236-4690.
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