Adolescent suicide is thought by many experts to be the second leading cause of dath among adolescents. The present strategies being used, which attempt to prevent these suicides by treatment during adolescence, do not seem to be working. This study therefore examined the development of self-concept and coping strategies during childhood in an effort to discover methods of providing the support and guidance needed in order for children to adopt those strategies found to be effective during adolescence. Parents of 51 adolescents who committed suicide completed a questionnaire covering personality and behavioral aspects of their children's lives during preschool, elementary, junior high, high school and older ages. A control group of parents (n=23) who had at least one post-high school age child completed similar questionnaires. The adolescents who committed suicide were found to have utilized external locus of control beginning in elementary school, were more likely to have given up or argued when having difficulties, and at high school and older ages had been less likely to compromise as a way to solve problems, than control group adolescents. The number of stresses that the suicide sample had experienced was also significantly greater than stress experienced by the control group. Adolescents who committed suicide were more impulsive beginning at preschool, and developmental trends toward greater sensitivity were found at every age level. (Author/BHK)