Suicide ideation: Prevalence and determinants among high school students

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and its determinants among adolescents in Vietnam. This is a cross-sectional school-based self-report survey conducted on the attending high school students. The anonymous questionnaire included questions about suicidal ideation from the Youth Risk Health Survey, emotional intelligence (EI), mental health problems, parenting styles, school connectedness, cyber bullying, conflicts with teachers and peers and social isolation. Findings from 1,593 students showed a high prevalence of lifetime suicidal thought and plan (31.58% and 12.6%) as well as 12-month suicidal thoughts (24.55%). Protective factors to lifetime suicidal thoughts included high EI and having a caring mother. Risk factors were being female, living in urban areas, having depression or anxiety, and conflict with teachers. This study provided evidence for future studies in intervention programmes to prevent suicidal thoughts in Vietnamese adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescents, emotional intelligence, low- and middle-income, suicide, students;