In a sample of 480 referred adolescents, patterns of low & high suicidal scores differed when age, sex & diagnosis were considered. The probability of high scores for girls showed only a marginal increase with age, while there was a striking rise for boys. An affective diagnosis & psychosocial stressors increased the probability of high scores for both boys & girls. Sex differences in suicidal behaviour were marked in the low-scoring groups. (34 refs.)