SYDNEY, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Many Aussie teens who end up in hospital due to suicidal behavior suffer from poor sleep and bullying, findings from research involving the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and University of Melbourne released on Monday showed.
Other common risk factors include a family history of mental illness and trauma.
The study, which analyzed more than 270 adolescents at a hospital in Victoria's state capital Melbourne during a 12-month period, also found that most of the affected teens were female and living in homes where the family was not intact.
The findings "add to the weight of evidence regarding established risk factors for suicidal behavior during adolescence and raises questions about the possible contribution of other risk factors for suicidal behavior, such as poor sleep," wrote the researchers in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
The "very high proportion" of admissions to the mental health inpatient unit accounted for by suicidal behavior "reinforces the importance of finding effective methods" to identify the risks to reduce the "unnecessary waste of young lives by suicide."
Suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged between 15 and 44, with more than eight suicides recorded daily in the country, according to nonprofit crisis support group Lifeline.
