SELF-ESTEEM, DEPRESSION, HOPELESSNESS, AND SUICIDAL INTENT AMONG PSYCHIATRICALLY DISTURBED INPATIENT CHILDREN

Evaluated depression, hopelessness, and self-esteem in suicidal ideati on and attempt among inpatient children (N = 123, ages 6 to 13 years). Suicidal ideators (n = 39), attempters (n = 42), and nonsuicidal pati ent control children (n = 42) participated. The major findings were th at: (a) suicidal children reported significantly greater depression an d hopelessness and lower self-esteem than did nonsuicidal children; (b ) depression, as measured by the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) , was the single best predictor of suicidal ideation and attempt; (c) hopelessness and self-esteem did not contribute further to the discrim ination of suicidal children once CDI depression entered, (d) when the CDI was replaced by diagnosis of depression in the discriminant analy sis, the Self-Esteem Inventory became the only measure to enter the eq uation; (e) suicidal girls were classified with greater accuracy than suicidal boys; and (f) the contribution of depression and self-esteem to discriminating between suicidal and nonsuicidal children varied as a function of the child's age. The results convey that depression and related cognitive domains discriminate suicidal and nonsuicidal childr en and vary in this regard as a function of child age and sex.