Abstract
IntroductionResearch on factors associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts has been conducted largely in developed countries. Research on West African countries in particular is lacking.MethodsData were obtained from the Global School-based Health Survey conducted in Benin in 2009. This was a cross-sectional study of three grades, spanning Junior and Senior High, which sampled a total of 2,690 adolescents. Data on the occurrence of demographic, psycho-social and socio-environmental risk factors were tested using multinomial logistic regression for their association with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.ResultsThe survey indicated that 23.2% had thought about suicide and 28.3% had made a suicide attempt in the previous year. Anxiety, loneliness, being bullied, alcohol misuse, illicit drug use, and lack of parental support were independently related to the ideation outcomes, suicidal ideation without planning and suicidal ideation with planning. Multinomial regression analysis, using one suicide attempt and multiple suicide attempts as outcomes, revealed that female sex, anxiety, loneliness, being physically attacked, and illicit drug use were associated these outcomes.DiscussionThe prevalence of suicide attempts reported in the survey is relatively high. It is possible that there are cultural factors that could explain this finding. Our research indicates that many factors are related to the occurrence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among youth in Benin. Illicit drug use and violence in particular are associated with a high rate of suicide attempts in Benin. Measures to address these issues may reduce the risk of self-inflicted violence.
Highlights
Research on factors associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts has been conducted largely in developed countries
Suicidal ideation and planning The risk factors among the three ideation groups are displayed in Table 2. 76.8% of the youth did not report any suicide ideation
After adjusting for all variables the only three factors which remained statistically significant in the regression model for ideation only were; anxiety (RRR = 2.16; 95%confidence intervals (CI): 1.31–3.56), substance use (RRR = 3.06 95%CI: 1.12–8.34), and having 0 close friends
Summary
Research on factors associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts has been conducted largely in developed countries. Suicide is of global public health importance. It is currently the 10th most common cause of mortality resulting in the loss of approximately one million lives every year [1,2]. Research on suicidal behaviours has been absent from several countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), West Africa in particular. Previous research has estimated the one-year prevalence of suicide attempts at 12% in Nigerian adolescents [9]. This is higher than the one-year rates found for adolescents in western countries [10,11,12]. A review of the literature on suicidal behaviour has found that both life-time attempt and lastyear attempt prevalence are less than 10% in the majority of studies [14]
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