Most juvenile suicides involved firearms
From 1981 through 1998, 62% of juvenile suicides were committed with a firearm, compared with 59% of adult suicides. (For comparison, 76% of murdered juveniles ages 7–17 were killed with a firearm.) Another 24% of juvenile suicides were by suffocation (primarily hanging) and 10% by poisoning.
Over the 1981–98 period, the suicides of white youth and black youth were more likely to involve firearms than were those of American Indian youth or Asian youth. Within each race, males were more likely to use firearms than were females.
Percentage of juvenile suicides involving firearms, 1981–98:
| Race | Total | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|
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| All | 62% | 65% | 51% |
| White | 63 | 65 | 52 |
| Black | 64 | 67 | 52 |
| American Indian | 45 | 52 | 23 |
| Asian | 46 | 52 | 31 |
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