Prevalence and Correlates of Suicide Ideation among Junior Middle School Students in Four Cities of China

• Main Author: Siwi Sri Widhowati
• Other Authors: Jenn-Chang Liou
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/97535900744948618164

碩士 === 亞洲大學 === 健康產業管理學系健康管理組 === 101 === Background: As stated by the WHO, suicide was the fifth leading cause of death in China. It was also the first among the teenage and young adult groups aged between 15 and 34 as reported by the Center for Disease Control. Since there is limited data about suicide under the age of 15, this study was carried out to investigate the prevalence and the correlates of suicide ideation among junior middle school students aged between 13 to 15 years in four cities of China. Method: This study used data from the 2003 China GSHS (Global School Health Survey). A total of 9015 students from four cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Urumqi) participated in this survey. Two suicide-related questions, suicidal thoughts and suicide planning were derived from the self-administered questionnaire of the survey as independent variables in the analyses. Twenty five risk factor-related questions were derived as the independent variables. The prevalence of suicide ideation was assessed using descriptive analysis, while suicide correlates were investigated using binary logistic regression analysis. Result: As many as 17.4% and 8.1% of all respondents reported that they considered themselves to have suicidal thoughts and planned to have suicide, respectively. Urumqi had the highest prevalence (20.8%) for suicidal thoughts, while Wuhan (9.7%) had the highest prevalence of suicide planning. Compared with males, females were significantly higher in their suicidal thoughts and suicide planning rates. The higher the school grade was followed by the higher risk of suicide ideation. Variables that were significantly associated with suicidal thoughts were sex, grades, location, hunger, hands hygiene, loneliness, sleeplessness, sadness and hopelessness, being bullied, physical activity, alcohol drinking, drinking-related troubles, friend support and parental understanding of problems. Sex, sleeplessness, sadness and hopelessness, alcohol drinking, a lack of parental knowledge of how free time is spent, and suicidal thoughts were significantly associated with suicide planning. Conclusion and Recommendation: As the risk of suicide ideation becomes higher for students exposed to correlates of suicide ideation, it is important to minimize the exposure of these correlates among students. Family cohesion between parents and their children should be developed adequately. Schools should support their students’ mental health from the first grade.