Suicide Ideation in Female Juvenile Offenders with a History of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or 'Ecstasy') Consumption

In the U.S., suicide is a major cause of death among adolescent populations, accounting for a greater number of deaths than the next major leading causes of death combined for 15to 24-yearolds [1-5]. In 2005, it was reported that 17 percent of adolescents reporting that they had seriously considered making a suicide attempt and that by 2010 it was the third leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24 [6,7]. Thinking about committing suicide, or suicide ideation can be operationalized as a phenomenon in adolescents [8] that may continue to exist and often recurs in adulthood [9]. In terms of cognitive attributes, suicidal ideation tends to reflect concerns and preoccupation of individuals specific to death and self-destructive behavior. Suicidal ideation has been viewed as an initial stage on a continuum of suicidality and a primary marker for future suicidal behavior [2,3], with women [4,5,10] and adolescent/young adults being at the greatest epidemiologic risk for suicidal behavior [5,11,10-14]. Epidemiological data suggest that suicide ideation is extremely prevalent during the high-school aged adolescent period and that the prevalence of suicide attempts by this population roughly 6.3 percent [15]. Between the age groups of 10-14 to 15-19, the rate of completed suicide increases from 1.1 to 7.4 per 100,000 [16]. However, much remains to be learned about the prevalence of suicide ideation or treats to do bodily harm or inflict self-injury with specific populations as function of targeted drug use [17,18] given suicide ideation in concert with self-injurious behaviors are the strongest predictors of eventual suicide [19,20].