Abstract
Over the past 100 years the state of Guanajuato has consistently been one of the highest migrant sending states in Mexico. Youth living in high migratory states such as Guanajuato are heavily influenced by the expectation that they will travel to the US, and research has shown that those who do not migrate may be looked down upon by members of their community. This secondary analysis looks at the connection between suicidal ideation and migration aspirations among a group of adolescents living in Guanajuato, Mexico. Data were originally collected in 2007 as part of a comprehensive health survey of youth attending an alternative high schooling program. Regression analyses show that suicidal ideation predicts intentions to migrate among both males and females, while other factors differentially influence the adolescents by gender. The results indicate that suicidal ideation may be associated with migration aspirations among Mexican youth living in high migratory communities. Study limitations and implications are discussed.
Highlights
Suicide is a leading cause of death throughout the world (Legleye et al, 2009), and can be a source of various problems at both the micro and macro levels
The results indicate that suicidal ideation may be associated with migration aspirations among Mexican youth living in high migratory communities
Gender was a statistically significant predictor of migration aspirations when included in the 3rd model (b = 0.40; p < 0.001), showing that males reported higher migration aspirations than females; the interaction models testing to see if gender moderated the relationship between suicidal ideation and migration aspirations were not significant
Summary
Suicide is a leading cause of death throughout the world (Legleye et al, 2009), and can be a source of various problems at both the micro (individual) and macro (societal) levels. Suicide survivors (i.e., those who have lost a loved one to suicide) face psychological, emotional, and familial hardships that negatively impact their quality of life. The impact of suicide on a country’s economy can be substantial. It has been estimated that suicide in the US leads to over $111 billion lost each year (Miller, Covington, & Jensen, 1999). The devastating individual and societal effects of suicide have led governments throughout the world to develop national strategies to better understand and reduce this widespread problem (e.g., US Department of Health and Human Services, 2001)
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