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01-09-2009 | Original Contribution

Suicide among Italian adolescents: 1970–2002

Authors: Maurizio Pompili, Maria Masocco, Monica Vichi, David Lester, Marco Innamorati, Roberto Tatarelli, Nicola Vanacore

Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry | Issue 9/2009

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to analyze sex and regional differences in the suicide rate of adolescents and the methods they used for suicide in Italy during the period 1970–2002. Temporal trends and regional variations in suicide for Italian adolescents were retrieved from the Italian database on mortality for the period 1970–2002, collected by the Italian Census Bureau and processed by the Italian National Institute of Health-Statistics Unit. In the period 1970–2002, 3,069 adolescent suicides were monitored in Italy. Analyses of these suicides identified significant differences by region of residence and sex. Males were 2.1 times more likely than females to kill themselves. Male and female suicides had inverse trends in the years analyzed, so that the sex difference at the present time is the result of a continuous increase in male suicides and a decrease in female suicides since 1970. The dramatic peaks observed over the time period studied cannot be attributed to a single cause, indicating that further studies are needed to better understand the phenomenon.

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Title: Suicide among Italian adolescents: 1970–2002
Authors: Maurizio Pompili
Maria Masocco
Monica Vichi
David Lester
Marco Innamorati
Roberto Tatarelli
Nicola Vanacore
Publication date: 01-09-2009
Publisher: D. Steinkopff-Verlag
Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry / Issue 9/2009
Print ISSN: 1018-8827
Electronic ISSN: 1435-165X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-009-0007-x

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Suicide among Italian adolescents: 1970–2002

Abstract

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