Predictive Factors for Suicidal Behaviors among University Students in the North-Central Region of Mexico

Abstract

Introduction. Suicide is a public health problem with multifactorial etiology affecting all age groups. In Mexico, the suicide rate was 6.5 suicides per 100,000 population in 2021. Objective. To determine the predictive factors for suicidal behaviors (SB) in college students in the north-central region of Mexico. Method. A descriptive, comparative, analytical study was conducted of 1,147 randomly selected college students. Sociodemographic data, alcohol consumption (AC), perceived stress (PS), social support (SS) and suicidal behavior (SB), suicidal ideation (SI), suicide attempt (SA) and suicide risk (SR) were measured. Data analysis in SPSS included descriptive and inferential statistics. Results. The mean age of study participants was 20.2 years, with a female predominance (82.2%). Prevalence rates for SB were 62% for SI, 14.9% for SA, and 18.3% for SR. In regard to predictive factors for SB, risky, harmful, or dependent AC increased SR 1.7-fold [1.071-2.926]. At the same time, not having SS increased the risk of SI, SA, and SR by a factor of 2.4 [1.843-3.246], 2.7 [1.890-4.123], and 3.6 respectively. Higher PS increased the risk of SI, SA, and SR by a factor of 5.6 [4.209-7.538], 3.1[2.103-4.663] and 6.4 [4.184-9.826] respectively. PS and lack of SS predict SB in both sexes and across all states. Discussion and Conclusion. The results show the importance of mental health care, in both epidemiologically risky situations and everyday life, together with the early identification, and timely, effective treatment of suicide risk factors in university students.