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. 2022 Feb 4;19(3):1784.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031784.

Risk and Protective Factors in Adolescent Suicidal Behaviour: A Network Analysis

Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero  1 , Susana Al-Halabí  2 , Alicia Pérez-Albéniz  1 , Martin Debbané  3   4
Affiliations

Risk and Protective Factors in Adolescent Suicidal Behaviour: A Network Analysis

Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Given that death by suicide continues to rank among the top three causes of death during adolescence, new psychological models may contribute critical insight towards understanding the complex interactions between risk and protective factors in suicidal behaviour. The main objective of this study was to analyse the psychological network structure of suicidal behaviour and putative risk and protective factors in school-aged adolescents.

Methods: Stratified random cluster sampling was performed. The final sample comprised 1790 students (53.7% female, M = 15.7 years, SD = 1.26). Instruments were administered to assess suicidal behaviour, emotional and behavioural difficulties, prosocial behaviour, subjective well-being, self-esteem, depressive symptomatology, academic performance, socio-economic status, school engagement, bullying, and cyberbullying.

Results: In the estimated psychological network, the node with the highest strength was depressive symptomatology, and that with the highest expected influence value was bullying. Suicidal behaviour was positively connected to symptoms of depression and behavioural problems. In addition, suicidal behaviour was negatively connected to self-esteem and personal well-being. The results of the stability analysis indicated that the network was accurately estimated.

Conclusions: Suicidal behaviour can be conceptualised as a dynamic, complex system of cognitive, emotional, and affective characteristics. New psychological models allow us to analyse and understand human behaviour from a new perspective, suggesting new forms of conceptualisation, evaluation, intervention, and prevention.

Keywords: adolescents; network; protective factors; risk factors; suicidal behaviour.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Estimated network of suicidal behaviour, and risk and protective factors. Note: CYBERB = Cyberbullying victimisation; BULL = Bullying victimisation; CLIM = School climate/engagement; SUIC = Suicide behaviour; DEPR = Depression symptoms; PROS = Prosocial behaviour; HIP = Hyperactivity; PEER = Peer problems; CDT = Conduct problems; EMOT = Emotional symptoms; SELF = Self-esteem; WELLB = Personal well-being; ACHIE = School achievement; SES = Socio-economic status. Blue edges represent positive associations, red edges represent negative associations. Thickness and saturation of edges indicate the strength of the associations.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Strength and expected influence values of the suicidal behaviour estimated network. Note: CYBERB = Cyberbullying victimisation; BULL = Bullying victimisation; CLIM = School climate/engagement; SUIC = Suicide behaviour; DEPR = Depression symptoms; PROS = Prosocial behaviour; HIP = Hyperactivity; PEER = Peer problems; CDT = Conduct problems; EMOT = Emotional symptoms; SELF = Self-esteem; WELLB = personal well-being; ACHIE = School achievement; SES = Socio-economic status.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Accuracy of the edgeweight estimates (red line) and the 95% confidence intervals (grey bars) for the estimates.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Stability of edges indices of the estimated network.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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