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Latina Adolescents Health Risk Behaviors and Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts: Results from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2001–2013

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Abstract

Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts are more common in Latina adolescents than White or African–American adolescents. Several health risk behaviors have been identified as being associated with Latina adolescent suicides. However, to date, no study has identified the consistency and stability of these risk behaviors over time. This study utilized the national Youth Risk Behaviors Survey from 2001 to 2013 to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and health risk behaviors associated with suicidal behaviors in Latina adolescents. Our analysis found the prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts varied significantly over the 13-year study span, decreasing from 2001 to 2009 and increased from 2011 to 2013. The analyses found 11 health risk behaviors that were significantly associated with both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts that did not vary over time. The stability of these 11 health risk behaviors associated with suicidal behaviors could be useful to school personnel to identify early at risk Latina adolescents who may benefit from school and community mental health resources.

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Fig. 1

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Injury prevention and control: Data and statistics (WISQARS). Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

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Funding

The study did not receive any external funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

    James H. Price

  2. Department of Nutrition and Health Science, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 47306, USA

    Jagdish Khubchandani

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  1. James H. Price
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  2. Jagdish Khubchandani
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Correspondence to Jagdish Khubchandani.

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Conflict of interest

Author JP declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author JK declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent and parental permission was obtained by the CDC from all individual participants included in the study.

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Price, J.H., Khubchandani, J. Latina Adolescents Health Risk Behaviors and Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts: Results from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2001–2013. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 533–542 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0445-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0445-8

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