A new study concludes that youths who use antidepressants like Zoloft and Paxil are more likely to attempt suicide, Newsday reported Aug. 8.

Researchers looked at a database of more than 5,000 youths aged 6-18 who were hospitalized for severe depression and had attempted suicide or succeeded in killing themselves. They found that youths who had attempted suicide were 1.5 times more likely to have been on SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants, and that those who took their own lives were 15 times more likely to have been on antidepressants.

Adults who took the drugs had no higher risk of suicide than those who did not, the researchers found.

SSRIs are not approved for use by children, but some doctors prescribe them anyway. The drugs also are sometimes abused by youth, with users selling their prescription medications to classmates in school.

The research appears in the August 2006 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.