Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempt Among Adolescents in Western Jamaica
A Preliminary Study
Abstract
Background: Although extensive studies on adolescent suicidal behavior have been conducted in developed countries such as the United States, little data exist on risk factors for suicide among adolescents in culturally and socially disadvantages settings, such as Jamaica. Aims: To conduct a preliminary investigation of risk factors associated with suicide ideation and attempt among youths in Western Jamaica. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 342 adolescents aged 10–19 years from 19 schools. Results: Multivariate analysis showed that a history of self-violence, violent thoughts toward others, mental health diagnoses other than depression, and a history of sexual abuse were positively associated with suicide attempt. Sexual abuse, mental health diagnoses other than depression, self-violence, and ease of access to lethal substances/weapons were positively associated with suicide ideation. Conclusions: We found a relatively high prevalence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts among adolescents living in Western Jamaica. An accurate understanding of the prevailing risk factors for suicide attempts will promote a more sympathetic approach to victims and facilitate prevention efforts.
References
2001). Health risk behaviors and associated risk and protective factors among Brazilian adolescents in Santos, Brazil. Journal of Adolescent Health, 28, 295–302.
(2000). Risk factors for suicide and attempted suicide among young people. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 420–436.
(2002). Suicide and psychiatric diagnosis: A worldwide perspective. World Psychiatry, 1, 181–185.
(2005). Suicide attempts, plans and ideation in culturally diverse sites: The WHO SUPREMISS community survey. Psychological Medicine, 35, 1457–1465.
(2003). Adolescent health in the Caribbean: Risk and protective factors. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 456–460.
(2002). Youth risk behavior surveillance – United States 2001. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 51(SS04), 1–64.
(2008). Youth risk behavior surveillance – United States 2007. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 57(SS04), 1–131.
(2009). Youth suicide. Available at www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/suicide/youthsuicide.htm.
(2008). Suicidality in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: The role of family and cultural influences. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 44, 278–284.
(2000). Risk factors and life processes associated with the onset of suicidal behavior during adolescence and early adulthood. Psychological Medicine, 30, 23–39.
(1997). Aggressive behavior in children and adolescents. Part II: A review of the effects of environmental characteristics. West Indian Medical Journal, 46, 104–106.
(2003). Adolescent health in the Caribbean: A regional portrait. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1851–1857.
(2006). Recall bias can be a threat to retrospective and prospective research designs. Internet Journal of Epidemiology, 3(2). Available from www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath)journals/ije/vol3n2/bias.xml.
(2006). Mental health week focuses on suicide. Available at www.jis.gov.jm/health/html/20061011t110000–0500_10264_jis_mental_health_week_focuses_on_suicide.asp.
(2001). Ministry of Health annual report, 2001. Kingston: Author.
(2009). 12-Month and lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts among Black adolescents in the national survey of American life. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 48, 271–282.
(2003). Evaluation of suicide rates in rural India using verbal autopsies, 1994–9. British Medical Journal, 326, 1121–1122.
(2002). Psychiatric and substance use disorders as risk factors for attempted suicide among adolescents: A case control study. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 32, 301–312.
(2006–9). Java applets for power and sample size [
(Computer software ]. Available from www.stat.uiowa.edu/~rlenth/Power.2005). Sexual abuse history: Prevalence, health effects, mediators, and psychological treatment. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67, 906–915.
(1996). Reducing corporal punishment for children: A call for a regional effort. Bulletin of the Pan American Health Organization, 30(1), 70–79.
(2008). Risk factors for suicide in China’s youth: A case control study. Psychological Medicine, 38, 397–406.
(2002). Suicide. Lancet, 360, 319–326.
(1997). Identification of suicide risk factors using epidemiologic studies. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 20, 499–517.
(2008). Teenage suicide. Available at www.nami.org.
(2007). Prevention of suicide and attempted suicide in Denmark. Epidemiological studies of suicide and intervention studies in selected risk groups. Danish Medical Bulletin, 54, 306–369.
(2005). Press release: Mental disorders in Latin America and the Caribbean forecast to increase. Available at www.paho.org/english/dd/pin/pr051209.htm.
(2002). Suicide rates in China, 1995–99. Lancet, 359(9329), 344.
(1992). Parasuicide in Europe: The WHO/EURO multicenter study on parasuicide. I. Introduction and preliminary analysis for 1989. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 85, 97–104.
(2006). Adolescent suicidal ideation as predictive of psychopathology, suicidal behavior, and compromised functioning at age 30. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1226–1232.
(2006). Gender in suicide attempt rates and childhood sexual abuse rates: Is there an interaction? Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 36, 329–335.
(2004). Suicidal behavior in Europe: Results from the WHO/EURO multicenter study on suicidal behavior. Göttingen: Hogrefe and Huber.
(2008). Are self-reports of health and morbidities in developing countries misleading? Evidence from India. Social Science and Medicine, 68, 260–265.
(2007). Risk factors for suicidal behavior among adolescents: Implication for prevention. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 869–879.
(2005). Global suicide rates among young people aged 15–19. World Psychiatry, 4, 114–120.
(2006). Internal data. Provided February 16, 2006.
(2001). The second decade: Improving adolescent health and development. Geneva: Author.
(2002). World report on violence and health: Summary. Geneva: Author.
(2003). Suicide rates (per 100,000), by country, year, gender. Available at www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/.
(