In 102 children aged 6 to 12 years who were in a municipal psychiatric
inpatient or outpatient clinic, the authors identified four groups of
suicidal and/or assaultive behaviors. Logistic regression analyses showed
that neurosis, intellectualization, and low levels of aggression predicted
membership in the nonassaultive-nonsuicidal group; intense aggression,
parental suicidal behavior, parental assaultive behavior, and compensation
predicted it in the assaultive-suicidal group; depression, a minimum of
aggression, and adjustment disorder predicted it in the suicidal-only
group; and intense aggression and absence of depression predicted it in the
assaultive-only group. Two clearly distinct types of suicidal children were
delineated.Abstract Teaser