Risk of suicidal behavior in adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescents are a group vulnerable to suicidal behaviors.

Objective: To identify a risk of suicidal behavior in adolescents.

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in 171 adolescents from the "Jesús Suárez Gayol" Urban Basic Secondary School in Havana, academic year 2018-2019, and were randomly chosen from 414 schoolchildren. Demographic variables, individual psychosocial variables, risk factors, family functioning (family APGAR) and information received were analyzed. Prevalence rate and ratio, contingency coefficient and Ji-square independence were estimated.

Results: Risk of suicidal behavior in adolescents (n=71; 17.1%), critical (n = 34; 8.2%) and non-critical (n = 37; 8.9%), exposed to hopelessness (84.51%), inability to cope with emotions (73.24%), loneliness and dejection (64.79%), low self-esteem (61.97%) and suicidal ideation (43.66%). With critical risk, suicidal ideation reached 74.19% (PR=2.88) and with non-critical risk, hopelessness obtained 53.3%. All families were functional (n=59): at critical risk (n=28; 47.46%) and non-critical (n=31; 52.54%). Demographic variables were independent of risk (p>0.05; CC<0.5). They received prior information (n=36; 61.02%) with critical risk 61.11%, on the internet (69.57%) and with non-critical risk, 38.89%, at school (64.71%).

Conclusions: The risk of suicidal behavior, critical or non-critical, may be overlapping in adolescents where suicidal ideation prevails in critical risk and hopelessness in non-critical risk, without distinction of sex, or with whom they coexist, the marital status of parents and the use of different media.