Suicidal Behaviour among School-Going Adolescents in Saint Lucia: Analysis of Prevalence and Associated Factors

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Suicide poses a debilitating threat to adolescents’ lives worldwide. Although suicide prevention efforts are evident globally, there is limited evidence on the prevalence and correlations of suicidal behaviour among school-going adolescents in Saint Lucia. We used a dataset from the 2018 Global School-based Student Health Survey to examine the prevalence and associated factors of suicidal behaviour among 1864 students from schools in Saint Lucia. Prevalence rates of 25.5%, 22.1%, and 17.5% were found for suicidal ideation, suicide plan, and suicide attempt, respectively. After adjusting for other factors, being male and having understanding parents were protective against suicidal behaviour. However, suicidal ideation was predicted by being physically attacked and bullied, parental/guidance tobacco use, loneliness, and worry. Moreover, being a victim of physical attacks and bullying, having close friends, being lonely, and worrying were predictive of making suicidal plans among adolescents. Attempting suicide was predicted by cigarette smoking, current use of tobacco and related products, bullying, having close friends, being lonely, and worrying. School-based preventive interventions are required to help address triggers of suicidal behaviour among adolescents in Saint Lucia and to help attain the targets for suicide prevention in the global Sustainable Development Goals.

Related collections

Most cited references 56

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Loneliness matters: a theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms.

Louise C. Hawkley, John T. Cacioppo (2010)

As a social species, humans rely on a safe, secure social surround to survive and thrive. Perceptions of social isolation, or loneliness, increase vigilance for threat and heighten feelings of vulnerability while also raising the desire to reconnect. Implicit hypervigilance for social threat alters psychological processes that influence physiological functioning, diminish sleep quality, and increase morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this paper is to review the features and consequences of loneliness within a comprehensive theoretical framework that informs interventions to reduce loneliness. We review physical and mental health consequences of loneliness, mechanisms for its effects, and effectiveness of extant interventions. Features of a loneliness regulatory loop are employed to explain cognitive, behavioral, and physiological consequences of loneliness and to discuss interventions to reduce loneliness. Loneliness is not simply being alone. Interventions to reduce loneliness and its health consequences may need to take into account its attentional, confirmatory, and memorial biases as well as its social and behavioral effects.

0 comments Cited 838 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Gender differences in anxiety disorders: prevalence, course of illness, comorbidity and burden of illness.

Carmen McLean, Anu Asnaani, Brett T Litz … (2011)

Women have consistently higher prevalence rates of anxiety disorders, but less is known about how gender affects age of onset, chronicity, comorbidity, and burden of illness. Gender differences in DSM-IV anxiety disorders were examined in a large sample of adults (N=20,013) in the United States using data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES). The lifetime and 12-month male:female prevalence ratios of any anxiety disorder were 1:1.7 and 1:1.79, respectively. Women had higher rates of lifetime diagnosis for each of the anxiety disorders examined, except for social anxiety disorder which showed no gender difference in prevalence. No gender differences were observed in the age of onset and chronicity of the illness. However, women with a lifetime diagnosis of an anxiety disorder were more likely than men to also be diagnosed with another anxiety disorder, bulimia nervosa, and major depressive disorder. Furthermore, anxiety disorders were associated with a greater illness burden in women than in men, particularly among European American women and to some extend also among Hispanic women. These results suggest that anxiety disorders are not only more prevalent but also more disabling in women than in men. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

0 comments Cited 438 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Suicide and suicidal behaviour.

Gustavo Turecki, David A Brent (2016)

Suicide is a complex public health problem of global importance. Suicidal behaviour differs between sexes, age groups, geographic regions, and sociopolitical settings, and variably associates with different risk factors, suggesting aetiological heterogeneity. Although there is no effective algorithm to predict suicide in clinical practice, improved recognition and understanding of clinical, psychological, sociological, and biological factors might help the detection of high-risk individuals and assist in treatment selection. Psychotherapeutic, pharmacological, or neuromodulatory treatments of mental disorders can often prevent suicidal behaviour; additionally, regular follow-up of people who attempt suicide by mental health services is key to prevent future suicidal behaviour.