Abstract
Objective. Suicidal ideation and suicide attempt are generally considered as non-fatal suicidal behaviors (NFSB) by most researchers. Across different cultures, the prevalence of NFSB has been found to be alarmingly high among adolescents. As there is no published study estimating prevalence rates in India, we conducted a study on adolescents in Delhi to find prevalence of NFSB and other related behaviors and to identify risk factors for NFSB.Methods: We collected data from 1205 adolescents in the age group from 12 to 19 years from 2 schools through semi-structured questionnaire on demographic variables, NFSB, death wish, deliberate self harm (DSH), Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS) by Sinha et al. & BDI.Results: Prevalence of suicidal ideation (lifetime), suicidal ideation (last year), suicide attempt (lifetime), suicide attempt (last year) were 21.7%, 11.7%, 8% and 3.5%, respectively. All the significant variables were entered into a logistic regression analysis model, and the adjusted odds ratios, with 95% confidence intervals, were obtained for them. Hindu religion, female sex, older adolescent, physical abuse by parents, feeling neglected by parents, history of running away from school, history of suicide by a friend, death wish and DSH were found to be significant risk factors for NFSB.Conclusions: There is high prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, death wish and deliberate self-harm in adolescent population of two schools in Delhi. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Moscicki EK. Identification of suicide risk factors using epidemiological studies.Psychiatr Clin North Am 1997; 20:499–517.
Boergers J, Spirito A, Dolandson D. Reasons for suicide attempts: associations with psychological functioning. J AmAcad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1988; 37(12): 1287–1293.
Hawton K, Fagg J, Platt S. Factors associated with suicide after parasuicide in young people.BMJ 1993; 306: 1641–1644.
Grossman DC, Milligan C, Deyo RA. Risk factors for suicide attempts among Navajo adolescents.Am J Public Health 1991; 81: 870–874.
Kar NM, Choudhury P. Characteristics of suicidal behaviour by adolescents. Paper presented at the 49th Annual National Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society 1997.
Jayaramiah C, Gunde R, Reddy V. Attempted suicide among young. Paper presented at the 49th Annual National Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society 1999.
Kar NM, Swain AK, Naik, M.S, Dash PS. Suicide and attempted suicide in children and adolescents-some observations. Paper presented at the 52nd Annual National Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society 2000.
Kar NM, Pursty GS, Mohapatra BN, Swain AK, Pattnaik P. Suicide attempts in adolescents-affective and cognitive predictors of precipitation. Paper presented at the 54th Annual National Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society 20002.
Sinha AKP, Singh RP. The Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS). Agra. National Psychological Corporation 1993.
Whisman MA, Perez JE, Ramel W. Factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) in a student sample.J Clin Psychol 2000; 56 (4): 545–551.
Brenner ND, Collins J, Kann L. Reliability of the YRBS.Am J Epidemiol 1995; 141: 575–580.
Kienhorst CWM, De Wilde EJ, Van Den Bout J. Characteristics of suicide attempters in a population based sample of Dutch adolescents.Br J Psychiatry 1990; 156: 243–248.
Choquet M, Menke H. Suicidal thoughts during early adolescence: prevalence associated troubles and help seeking behaviour.Acta Psychiatr Scand 1989; 81: 170–177.
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. YRBSS: Youth Online: comprehensive results. [online] 2003. Available: http:/ /apps.nccd.cdc.gov/yrbss/index.asp.
Wichstrom L. Predictors of adolescent suicide attempts: a nationally representative longitudinal study of Norwegian adolescents.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2000; 39(5): 603–610.
Borowsky IW, Ireland M, Resnick MD. Adolescent suicide attempts: risks and protectors.Pediatrics 2001; 107(3): 486–493.
Paykel ES, Myers JK, Lindenthal JJ. Suicidal feelings in the general population: a prevalence study.Br J Psychiatry 1974; 124: 460–469.
Patton GC, Harris R, Carlin JB. Adolescent suicidal behaviors: a population based study of risk.Psychol Med 1997; 27: 715–724.
Guyer B. Intentional injuries among children and adolescents in Masachusetts.N Engl J Med 1989; 321: 1584.
Kumar CTS, Chandrasekaran R. A study of psychosocial and clinical factors associated with adolescent suicide attempts.Indian J Psychiatry 2000; 42(3): 237–242.
Singh K, Jain NR, Khullar BMR. A study of suicide in Delhi state.Indian J Psychiatry 1971; 57(11): 412–419.
Guptal SC, Singh H. Psychiatric illness in suicide attempters.Indian J Psychiatry 1981; 23(1): 69–74.
Dubow EF, Kausch DF, Blum MC, Reed J. Correlates of suicidal ideation and attempts in a community sample of junior high school students.J Consult Clin Psychol 1989; 18: 158–166.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sidhartha, T., Jena, S. Suicidal behaviors in adolescents. Indian J Pediatr 73, 783–788 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02790385
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02790385