title: Suicidal behaviours: Prevalence estimates from the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To (1) estimate the lifetime and 12-month prevalence of suicidal behaviours in Australian young people aged 12-17 years, (2) describe their co-morbidity with mental illness and (3) describe the co-variation of these estimates with social and demographic variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  A national random sample of children aged 4-17 years was recruited in 2013-2014. The response rate to the survey was 55% with 6310 parents and carers of eligible households participating. In addition, of the 2967 young people aged 11-17 years in these households, 89% (2653) of the 12- to 17-year-olds completed a self-report questionnaire that included questions about suicidal behaviour.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In any 12-month period, about 2.4% or 41,400 young people would have made a suicide attempt. About 7.5% of 12- to 17-year-olds report having suicidal ideation, 5.2% making a plan and less than 1% (0.6%) receiving medical treatment for an attempt. The presence of a mental disorder shows the largest significant association with lifetime and 12-month suicidal behaviour, along with age, gender, sole parent family status and poor family functioning. Of young people with a major depressive disorder, 19.7% reported making a suicide attempt within the previous 12 months. There are also significant elevations in the proportions of young people reporting suicidal behaviour who have anxiety and conduct disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mental disorders should be a leading intervention point for suicide prevention both in the primary health sector and in the mental health sector specifically. The associations examined here also suggest that efforts to assist sole parent and/or dysfunctional families would be worthy areas in which to target these efforts.
authors.affiliation: Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, WA Australia steve@ichr.uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Zubrick
authors.affiliation: Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, WA Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hafekost
authors.affiliation: Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, WA Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, WA Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.affiliation: Health Data Analysis Pty Ltd, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Suzy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saw
authors.affiliation: The Discipline of Paediatrics, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.affiliation: Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ainley
authors.affiliation: Buckingham & Associates Pty Ltd, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Buckingham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Australia; Suicide; adolescents; children; mental health; suicidal behaviour