Childhood and adolescent suicide in Manitoba: a demographic study.

All suicides for ages 20 years and younger in Manitoba from 1971 to 1982 were studied for demographic and risk factors. Major demographic findings for Caucasian Manitobans agreed with past studies but native children showed several fold the rates for Caucasian children matched for gender and age. Both native males and rural Caucasian males suicided significantly more frequently at younger ages than their urban counterparts. Significant risk factors and demographic clusters of suicide victims were determined by statistical means and the results discussed in terms of a better understanding of childhood suicide, on a psychodynamic basis.