via philly:
Half of parents whose teenagers have had thoughts of suicide don’t know it, and more than three-quarters of parents are unaware that their youngsters think a lot about death, according to a new study
Based on a survey of more than 5,000 children ages 11 to 17 and their parents or guardians, the study by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania researchers is believed to be the largest of its kind to date. The findings, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, come at a time when suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents and the rates for children age 10 to 14 are also on the rise.
We identified that really large numbers of parents were unaware that their youth were thinking about killing themselves, and 75 percent did not know their kids were thinking a lot about death and dying,” said Rhonda Boyd, a study coauthor and clinical psychologist with CHOP
Moreover, when parents said they believed their offspring were having thoughts of suicide, most of those parents’ children denied having such thoughts
CLICK HERE to read full story
