Parents, take note. Depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are the main reasons why children think about suicide, warn researchers. The study, published in the journal Archives of Suicide Research, reveals the factors that can trigger ideas of suicide in pre-adolescent age group. "In boys it is previous depressive symptoms which determine subsequent suicidal ideation, while in girls it is a combination of anxiety symptoms, OCD and the family's socioeconomic situation," said Nuria Voltas from Rovira I Virgili University in Spain.

The researchers studied a group of 720 boys and 794 girls who studied in 13 schools in Reus. They were monitored during three developmental periods according to age groups of 10 years, 11 years and 13 years.