For both boys and girls, "depressed affect" (feeling blue, sad, lonely, fearful, crying, and thinking one's life is a failure) was the most significant predictor of the presence of suicidal ideation and of the wish to kill oneself. There were two additional significant predictors of suicidal ideation for boys: loss of positive affect (loss of feeling good, hopeful, happy, and enjoyment) and somatic and retarded activity (poor sleep and appetite, concentration difficulties, feeling everything is an effort, talking less than usual, having no energy, and feeling bothered). In both boys and girls, interpersonal negative perceptions (feeling disliked, feeling others are unfriendly) did not independently predict suicidal ideation. This finding may suggest that interpersonal problems are not directly linked to suicidal ideation, but rather are mediated through "depressed affect." More studies are needed in order to examine gender-specific relationships between dimensions of depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors in adolescents. During the second semester of 2004, data were obtained from students who were in grades 10-12 in seven randomly selected public high schools in Haute-Garonne, France. Students were asked to complete the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and a suicidal ideation scale. The frequency of symptoms and of probable depression was analyzed for both boys and girls by using Fisher's exact test. Comparisons of continuous variables were made by using t-tests. Regression analyses entering factor scores as predictors were performed on subjects with moderate to severe depressive symptoms in order to predict suicidal ideation. 1 figure, 4 tables, 45 references, and appended CES-D