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Parents miss suicide warning signs © Jennifer Thomas Wednesday, Nov. 4 (HealthScout) -- If your teen-ager is acting strangely, ignoring it could have tragic results. A new study has found that the parents of teens who attempt to kill themselves often miss the signs that their children are suffering from mental health problems that put them at risk of suicide. Researchers from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, interviewed 52 teen-agers who made serious attempts at killing themselves and their parents to determine how aware parents were of their child's distress. By comparing the answers given by the teens to those of the parents, the researchers found that many of the youngsters were suffering symptoms of major depression or had behavioral problems when they attempted suicide, but few parents knew the extent to which their child was having difficulties. Nearly 60 percent of the teens showed signs of major depression when they tried to kill themselves, but only 13 percent of parents noticed the symptoms, according to the study published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Almost 39 percent of the children showed signs of aggressive conduct disorder, characterized by trouble with the law, frequent fighting, vandalism, starting fires or assaulting people, but parents recognized the signs 23 percent of the time. Almost 50 percent of the teens showed signs of non-aggressive conduct disorder, characterized by early sexual experiences, cutting classes, theft, shoplifting or stealing from home, but parents knew what was going on only 13 percent of the time. About half of the teens abuses alcohol and 35.7 used drugs, but parents knew about their teen's activities in only 14 percent of the cases. It's no surprise that parents are better at spotting the signs the drug and alcohol abuse and aggressive conduct disorder than non-aggressive conduct disorder and depression, said Dr. Drew Velting, the study's lead author and assistant professor of psychological science at Ball State University. Signs of depression include difficulty concentrating or sleeping, feeling tired or lethargic, or feeling worthless or hopeless, but parents often misinterpret the outward signs of depression as laziness or disobedience. "It's very difficult to predict suicidal behavior, but parents need to be aware of any changes in their adolescent's behavior," Velting said. Suicide was the fourth leading cause of death in children ages 10 to 14 in the United States in 1996, accounting for 300 deaths, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The suicide rate in this age group has doubled since 1979. More than 1,800 teens ages 15 to 19 killed themselves in 1996, making suicide the third leading cause of death in that age group. What To Do: Parents should watch for any dramatic changes in a child's personality, quality of schoolwork or sleeping habits, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Other warning sides your child may be troubled at risk of suicide include:
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