INTRODUCTION: About half of all adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) have frequent suicidal thoughts and of those with suicidal ideations, about one-third attempt suicide. Identifying clinical characteristics associated with suicidal ideation and attempts is important for suicide prevention and clinical care. METHODS: Participants were four groups of adolescents diagnosed with MDD ( RESULTS: Suicidal ideators, irrespective of whether they had attempted suicide previously, had higher depression severity, higher anxiety and lower resilience compared to non-ideators. Hopelessness was associated with greater odds of being a suicidal ideator ( LIMITATIONS: Only cross-sectional data was included, and data was based mostly on self-report measures. CONCLUSIONS: Suicidal thoughts are associated with increases in hopelessness while suicide attempts are linked to non-suicidal self-harm behavior. Treatment of non-suicidal self-harm behavior might be an effective suicide prevention strategy in young people with depression. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT03167307).