Abstract
BackgroundWhereas non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SA) are rather common among adolescents, the description of risk factors has often failed to take migration into perspective. Our study aimed to describe immigration status in adolescents with regards to their lifetime history of NSSI and SA.MethodsWe carried out a population based study in a school community of ninth-graders (N = 452, mean age 14.85, SD 0.58) in southern Germany. Data were collected via adolescent self report on sociodemographic variables and on NSSI and SA using the Self Harm Behavior Questionnaire.ResultsAdolescents born outside Germany showed an elevated rate of a lifetime history of NSSI and SA. When compared to German adolescents without a (family) history of migration (NSSI 19.16%, SA 3.24%), adolescents who were born in another country had an elevated risk for NSSI (42.86%, OR 3.36) and SA (17.86%, OR 6.78), which was higher than the risk of adolescents who had at least one parent who had emigrated from another country (NSSI 30.08%, OR 2.46 and SA 8.94%, OR 4.45).ConclusionOur findings should inform intervention services and prevention programs for NSSI and suicidality in youth. Adopting such programs to include culturally sensible modules could improve the outcome in ethnically diverse adolescents.
Highlights
Whereas non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SA) are rather common among adolescents, the description of risk factors has often failed to take migration into perspective
Both non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts are rather common among German adolescents
Five adolescents were born in Russia and former Soviet Union countries and three in Turkey
Summary
Whereas non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SA) are rather common among adolescents, the description of risk factors has often failed to take migration into perspective. Our study aimed to describe immigration status in adolescents with regards to their lifetime history of NSSI and SA. Both non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts are rather common among German adolescents. A large study comparing adolescent samples from 11 European countries (including Israel) reported a lifetime prevalence. With regards to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, a large (n = 45,806) European study reported a median lifetime prevalence rate of 10.5% for suicide attempts in adolescents, with 30.8% reporting a history of self-harm thoughts [8]. In Germany, lifetime prevalence rates of suicidal ideation in adolescents were reported to be between 14.5% [9], 36.4% [3] and 39.4% [10], with a reported 6-month prevalence rate of 3.8% [11]. A lifetime history of suicide attempts was reported to be between 6.5% [3], 7.8% [9] and 9.0% [10]
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