The child & adolescent suicide rate has been growing since 1930. Impulsiveness & apparent triviality of precipitating causes are noted. Most frequent causes were aggression & escape. Identification, psychoses & suggestion were also important elements. Chronic depression & superego problems were not major determinants until middle or late adolescence. The majority of the children had impulse control problems, coming from a cultural milieu which encouraged or even stimulated impulsiveness. (GW)