Trends in juvenile suicides and murders were largely tied to firearms

There are similarities in the trends of juvenile suicides and homicides by juveniles between 1981 and 1998. Between 1981 and 1994, the number of juvenile suicides increased 44%, with firearm-related suicides accounting for 80% of this growth. As a result, the proportion of juvenile suicides involving firearms increased from 64% in 1981 to 69% in 1994. Similarly, the number of juvenile offenders who committed murder with a firearm tripled between 1981 and 1994, while the number of juveniles who committed murder by other means remained constant. As a result, the proportion of juvenile offenders who committed murder with a firearm increased from 59% in 1981 to 81% in 1994.

Between 1994 and 1998, the number of juvenile suicides declined 11%, while the number of murders by juveniles fell 40%. The decline in the overall number of murders by juveniles was directly related to a decline in firearm-related homicides. The number of juvenile suicides by firearm also declined substantially (down 28%) during this period; however, reducing the overall impact of this decline was a 27% increase in the number of juvenile suicides that did not involve firearms.

Among youth ages 7–17, the proportion of firearm-related suicides peaked in 1994, as did the proportion of firearm-related homicides and the proportion of homicide offenders who used a firearm

Line graphs illustrating the 1994 peak of firearm use in suicides and homicides.

  • Between 1981 and 1994, the proportion of firearm-related suicides increased from 64% to 69%. The increase in this proportion was seen for males (65% to 72%), whereas the proportion for females was 58% in both 1981 and 1994. The proportion of firearm-related suicides involving white juveniles increased from 64% to 69%, whereas the proportion for black juveniles grew from 64% to 78%.

  • In 1994, 69% of juvenile suicides, 85% of homicides involving juvenile victims, and 81% of homicides committed by juveniles involved a firearm.

  • Each of these proportions fell by 1998. The firearm proportion of juvenile suicides (56%) fell to its lowest level in the 1981–98 period. The proportions of juvenile murderers who used a firearm (69%) and juvenile murder victims killed with a firearm (75%) had fallen to their lowest levels in 10 years, but were still above their levels of the early 1980s.

  • The increase that occurred between 1981 and 1994 in firearm-related juvenile suicides and homicides and in juvenile homicide offenders who used firearms was greatest for black youth.

Data source: NVSS, compiled by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. [See Data source notes for detail.]



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Juvenile Suicides, 1981–1998 Youth Violence Research Bulletin • March 2004