Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct:199:51-56.
doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2021.08.004. Epub 2021 Sep 20.

Trends and instigators among young adolescent suicide in the United States

M Labuhn  1 , K LaBore  2 , T Ahmed  3 , R Ahmed  4
Affiliations

Trends and instigators among young adolescent suicide in the United States

M Labuhn et al. Public Health. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: The present investigation examined the role of factors involved in suicide ideation and suicide attempt using a nationally representative sample of US high school students.

Methods: Data were collected from students in Grades 9-12 as part of the Youth Behavioral Survey (n = 11,328). Logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with suicide ideation and suicide attempt. Variables included demographic characteristics (grade, sex, and race), psychosocial factors (physical fighting, sexual violence, sports participation, bullying, and electronic bullying), and substance use (cigarette usage, marijuana usage, and alcohol usage).

Results: The factor most associated with suicide ideation was bullying (either electronic or physical), whereas the factor most associated with suicide attempt was sexual violence followed closely by physical bullying.

Conclusions: The multitude of instigators and commonality among gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status give an indication of how to prevent suicide and who to target information regarding the hazards of suicide.

Keywords: Adolescents; Suicide attempt; Suicide ideation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests:

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model-adjusted proportions of suicide ideation and attempt among youth (grade 9–12) in 2017 in the United States by sex, physical fighting, sexual violence, bullying at school, electronic bullying, cigarette use, marijuana use, and sports team participation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Model-adjusted proportions of suicide attempt among youth (grade 9–12) in 2017 in the United States by A) race/ethnicity and B) grade. Error bars are 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Minino AM (2010). Mortality among teenagers aged 12–19 years: United States, 1999–2006. PsycEXTRA Dataset, 37. doi:10.1037/e665432010-001’ - DOI - PubMed
    1. Plemmons G, Hall M, Doupnik S, Gay J, Brown C, Browning W, … & Rehm K (2018). Hospitalization for suicide ideation or attempt: 2008–2015. Pediatrics, 141(6), e20172426. - PubMed
    1. Curtin SC (2020). State suicide rates among adolescents and young adults aged 10–24: United States, 2000–2018. - PubMed
    1. Cash SJ, & Bridge JA (2010). Epidemiology of youth suicide and suicidal behavior. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 21(5), 613–619. doi:10.1097/mop.0b013e32833063e1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Karthick S, & Barwa S (2017). A review on theoretical models of suicide.