Teen Suicides Up Sharply for First Time in Years

The difference in the rate of increase was due to Shain's inclusion of suicides among people aged 0 to 24, Arias said.

In the CDC report, researchers collected data from the CDC's National Vital Statistics System. They looked specifically at the trends of suicide over 15 years, according to the report in the Sept. 7 issue ofMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC publication.

The researchers also found the methods used to commit suicide had changed among girls over time. In 1990, guns were the most common method used by both girls and boys. But by 2004, hanging/suffocation was the most common method for females, accounting for 71.4 percent of the suicides among 10- to 14-year-old girls and 49 percent among 15- to 19-year-old girls.

There was a 119 percent increase in hanging/suffocation suicides among 10- to 14-year-old girls, according to the report. However, for boys, guns were still the most common method.

In 2004, 161,000 youths between the ages of 10 and 24 showed up in emergency rooms across the country with self-inflicted injuries, the report added.

"Today's findings alert us that [the] CDC, along with others in the field of suicide prevention, need to work harder to prevent the underlying causes of suicide," Arias said. "We believe that there is urgent need for broader prevention measures that address the needs of youth."

More information

For more on teen suicide, visit Safe Youth.

SOURCES: Sept. 6, 2007, teleconference with: Ileana Arias, Ph.D., director, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; Thomas Laughren, M.D., director, Division of Psychiatry Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Benjamin N. Shain, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, psychiatry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., and liaison, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Sept. 7, 2007,Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report