Quarshie, EN-B orcid.org/0000-0002-8720-2355, Onyeaka, HK and Oppong Asante, K (2020) Suicidal behaviours among adolescents in Liberia. BMC Psychiatry, 20 (1). 572. ISSN 1471-244X
Abstract
Background
Whereas suicide remains in the top 12 leading causes of death among young people aged 10–24 in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about suicidal behaviours among adolescents in Liberia. We aimed to estimate the 12-month prevalence and describe some of the correlates of suicide behaviours (ideation, planning, and attempt) among school-going adolescents in Liberia.
Methods
We analysed data from the 2017 Liberia Global School-based Student Health Survey conducted nationwide among secondary school students. We performed bivariate and multivariable analyses to assess the correlates of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempt in the previous 12 months.
Results
Of the 2744 students, 26.8% reported suicidal ideation, 36.5% made a specific plan to attempt suicide and 33.7% attempted suicide during the 12 months preceding the survey. In the final adjusted logistic models, bullying victimisation and food insecurity were associated with increased odds of ideation, planning, and attempt. Whereas no factor was uniquely associated with suicidal ideation, having many close friends, and parental monitoring were associated with the increased odds of suicidal planning only. Leisure-time sedentary behaviour was associated with increased odds of suicidal planning and attempt. Cannabis use, alcohol drunkenness, being physically attacked, and parental supervision were uniquely associated with increased odds of suicidal attempt, while parental understanding and having a smaller number of close friends were uniquely associated with reduced odds of suicidal attempt.
Conclusions
The relatively high prevalence estimates of suicide behaviours and the multi-contextual nature of the associated factors warrant the need for the design and implementation of universal and multi-level, collaborative targeted intervention efforts towards the prevention of the onset of ideation, planning, and attempt, and the possible transition to deaths by suicide among school-going adolescents in Liberia.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2020. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Adolescents; Attempted suicide; Liberia; Suicide; Suicidal ideation; Suicidal planning |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Dec 2020 10:40 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:31 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | BMC |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s12888-020-02985-3 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:168603 |