Of 1,206 patients treated during the period 1970-1980 in a department of child psychiatry in a large city in Sweden 24 (2%) (14 boys and 10 girls) had died by the end of 1981. Of these, 21 (88%) died of injuries following external violence and poisoning; 15 (63%) were suicides. Subjects, 20 (83%) had grown up in surroundings characterized by one or more psychosocial stress factors. The study indicates a possible link between psychosocial background factors and deaths from injuries following external violence and poisoning.