Asante, KO, Kugbey, N, Osafo, J et al. (2 more authors) (2017) The prevalence and correlates of suicidal behaviours (ideation, plan and attempt) among adolescents in senior high schools in Ghana. SSM - Population Health, 3. pp. 427-434. ISSN 2352-8273
Abstract
Suicide is recognised as the third leading cause of death among adolescents globally. There is however limited data on the prevalence and factors associated with suicide particularly in Ghana. To explore the prevalence and risk and protective factors associated with suicide in Ghana, a nationwide Global School-based Student Health Survey data collected among senior high school adolescents in Ghana was used. The prevalence of suicidal behaviours was 18.2%, 22.5% and 22.2% for suicidal ideation, suicidal plan and suicidal attempt respectively. In the final analysis, anxiety increases the odds of suicidal behaviour, even after controlling for other variables. Loneliness increases the odds of suicidal behaviour but after adjusting for other factors the odds remained for only suicidal plan. Being bullied, physically attacked, involved in a physical fight and food insecurity remained risk factors for suicidal behaviour (i.e. ideation, plan and attempt) after adjusting for other factors. Truancy was found as a risk factor for both suicidal ideation and plans but such effect diminished for suicidal plan after adjusting for other variables. Increasing number of close friends remained a risk factor for both suicidal plan and attempt but such effect diminished for suicidal ideation after adjusting for other variables. Parental understanding of adolescents’ problems and worries remained a significant protective factor for all the indices of suicidal behaviour after adjusting for other variables. Parental respect for privacy was protective of suicidal attempt but was not significant after adjusting for other variables. Early identification and intervention for at-risk adolescents in senior high schools, for example those experiencing different forms of physical abuse, drug and substance use and hunger can potentially reduce the prevalence of suicide among this population in Ghana.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. |
Keywords: | Suicide; Adolescents; Risk and protective factors; Ghana |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 10 May 2017 12:20 |
Last Modified: | 25 Apr 2018 13:35 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.05.005 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:116224 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0