Abstract
Study Objectives: In comparison to other countries, the South Korean population has a short average sleep duration, and studies have suggested that insufficient sleep is a risk factor for suicidal behavior. This study aimed to examine the association of bedtime with suicidal ideation and with suicide planning, respectively, among Korean adolescents. Methods: This study included 48,218 participants from the 2017 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Participants were divided into three categories: pre-23:00 bedtime, 23:00–01:30 bedtime, and post-01:30 bedtime. Suicidal ideation and suicide planning were the main dependent variables, and multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the target association. Results: For both male and female respondents, compared to those who had a pre-23:00 bedtime, those whose bedtime was after 01:30 were more likely to have suicidal ideation (post-01:30 bedtime for men: OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.16–1.45; for women: OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.20–1.44). For suicide planning, the results were also significant for both genders (post-01:30 bedtime for men: OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.16–1.70; for women: OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.03–1.43). Odds of suicidal ideation were higher for those who had a post-01:30 bedtime on weekdays but not weekends. Conclusions: We found that, among adolescents, going to bed after 01:30 is significantly associated with suicidal ideation and suicide planning, after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related characteristics. Therefore, late bedtime should be the timepoint of a suicide intervention for adolescents, in order to prevent developing suicidal ideations and suicide planning.
Highlights
The World Health Organization has stated that suicide is a serious public health problem, and that its prevention requires urgent attention [1]
Compared to respondents with a pre-23:00 bedtime, those with a post-01:30 bedtime were more likely to show suicidal ideation and suicide planning. These results were significant for both men and women
The current study identified a significant relationship between bedtime and suicidal ideation and suicide planning, respectively
Summary
The World Health Organization has stated that suicide is a serious public health problem, and that its prevention requires urgent attention [1]. Adolescent suicide is the leading cause of death in the world and requires urgent prevention [2,3]. In 2018, South Korea had the second highest suicide rate among countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) [4]; further, suicide was the cause of 28.4% of deaths among Korean adolescents in 2013, making it the primary cause of death among this age group [5]. The premature deaths of adolescents can have serious emotional effects for family members, and friends and, from a national perspective, can negatively impact productivity [6,7]; preventing adolescent suicide is a top priority for health and welfare [8]. Public Health 2019, 16, 3817; doi:10.3390/ijerph16203817 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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