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 Researchers interviewed 5,137 adolescents, ages 11 to 17, along with
one parent or stepparent. Most teens in the study didn't report
suicidal thoughts.
But when they did, half of their parents were unaware these teens
had thoughts of killing themselves and 76 percent of parents didn't
know when teens regularly thought about death, researchers report in
Pediatrics.
"These findings highlight the importance of open communication
between parents and adolescents and creating a safe and supportive
family environment where adolescents feel comfortable disclosing
their problems and concerns to parents and parents feel comfortable
soliciting information from their teens having difficult
conversations," said lead study author Jason Jones of the Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman
School of Medicine.
"Teens need to know they can depend on their parents in times of
need," Jones said by email. "Parents should also not hesitate to
seek help if they have concerns."
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among U.S. youth ages
10 to 24, and suicide deaths rates among young people have been
rising, researchers note in Pediatrics.
More than two-thirds of teens experiencing suicidal thoughts don't
receive mental health services.
The current study recruited families from a large pediatric health
care network, not from mental health clinics. The adolescents were
15 years old on average, and most of the adults who participated
were their mothers.
Among other things, interviewers asked the youngsters and parents if
the children had ever thought of killing themselves or if they
thought a lot about death.
Overall, children and parents were more likely to share a common
awareness of adolescents' suicidal thoughts when children were older
than when they were preteens.
For girls, however, parents were more likely to recognize thoughts
of death at younger ages and less likely to be aware of suicidal
thoughts at younger ages.
With boys, the opposite was true, and parents were less aware of
suicidal thoughts for older teens.
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White parents were more likely to detect suicidal thoughts in their
teens than non-white parents in the study.
About one in ten parents in the study were fathers, and dads were
more likely to miss teens' suicidal thoughts than mothers.
The study wasn't a controlled experiment designed to prove whether
or how parents' recognition of teens' suicidal thoughts, or teens'
awareness of their own feelings, might directly impact the chance of
self-harm or death by suicide. It's also not clear if results from
pediatrics health clinics in Philadelphia would be similar elsewhere
in the country.
Even so, the results highlight the potential for adolescents' mental
health problems and suicidal thoughts to go undetected, said Dr.
Jacqueline Grupp-Phelan of the University of California, San
Francisco, Benioff Children's Hospital
"This is due to many reasons including the internal nature of
suicidal thoughts, lack of systemic screening and the denying by
teens that they are having these thoughts," Grupp-Phelan, the author
of an accompanying editorial, said by email.
"The most important take-home message for parents is ask your teen
how they are doing, and if you notice a change in behavior or energy
level, get help from their primary care provider or mental health
professional," Grupp-Phelan advised.
Warning signs include sadness, loss of interest and withdrawal from
activities, and social isolation, among others, Jones said. Parents
can get more information on risk factors and warning signs for
suicide from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (http://bit.ly/2FxNQuA)
and from the national suicide prevention helpline (800-273-TALK).
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2FCfpCW Pediatrics, online January 14, 2019.
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