Abstract
Background: Suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents worldwide, self-esteem is a strong protective factor, and parents may be able to provide interventions. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine how parents can help enhance their adolescent’s self-esteem and prevent suicidal behavior among adolescents in Nepal. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to adolescents aged 13–19 years and their parents at eight high schools in three provinces in Nepal (n = 575 pairs). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (bivariate and multivariate regression analyses). Results: The mean self-esteem score of adolescents according to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was 16.59, and the prevalence of suicidal behavior was 11.3%. Parent’s knowledge about the development of self-esteem in adolescents was significantly positively related to parenting practice (communication, support, positive reinforcement, etc.) (B = 1.0, 95% confidence interval, CI 0.89–1.11) and authoritative parenting style (B = 0.2, 95% CI 0.15–0.25). Parental authoritativeness was positively associated with the self-esteem of their adolescents (B = 0.1, 95% CI 0.01–0.18), while adolescents with authoritarian parents were prone to suicidal risk behavior (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 1.1, 95% CI 1.0–1.19). Conclusion: Counseling to parents based on our findings would be helpful to enhance the self-esteem and prevent suicidal risk behavior in their adolescent children.
Highlights
Adolescence is a unique developmental period of life marked by the transition from childhood to adulthood in which adolescents have to adjust to various changes and challenges, and this might make adolescents prone to various psychosocial problems [1,2,3,4,5]
We would like to discuss our findings based on the outlined research questions, with important practical implications at the levels of the family/parents, school/public health nurses, psychologists, counselors and others who work in the arena in contributing to the mental health of adolescents
We found that the parenting practice score of parents was positively associated with the self-esteem score of their adolescents on bivariate analysis, but this was completely confounded by two variables, i.e., socioeconomic status (SES) and gender, on multivariate analysis
Summary
Adolescence is a unique developmental period of life marked by the transition from childhood to adulthood in which adolescents have to adjust to various changes and challenges, and this might make adolescents prone to various psychosocial problems [1,2,3,4,5]. Good psychosocial health in adolescence includes having a positive sense of identity and self-worth [6] In this regard, self-esteem is an important aspect of mental health and it is believed to be one of the predictive factors for the psychological well-being of adolescents in their unique period of identity development [7,8,9,10]. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents worldwide, self-esteem is a strong protective factor, and parents may be able to provide interventions. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine how parents can help enhance their adolescent’s self-esteem and prevent suicidal behavior among adolescents in Nepal. Conclusion: Counseling to parents based on our findings would be helpful to enhance the self-esteem and prevent suicidal risk behavior in their adolescent children
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