Abstract
Attempting suicide is an important risk factor that can lead to suicide death. The aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence of suicide attempts and to identify the gender-specific predictors of suicide among adolescents in Mongolia. We analyzed data from the 2019 Mongolian Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) conducted nationwide among 13–18-year-old students. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to assess the correlates of suicide attempts. Overall, 32.1% of the adolescents reported to have had suicide attempts. Multivariable analysis showed a significant association in the total sample of suicide attempts with lack of close friends, anxiety, injury and violence, smoking and alcohol drinking, and sexual intercourse. Male suicide attempters were less likely to have close friends and more likely to have injuries, been physically attacked, been bullied, smoke, drink alcohol, and have had sexual intercourse. Within the female subgroup, anxiety, injury and violence, smoking and alcohol drinking significantly increased the odds of reporting suicide attempts. Increase of the student’s age by one year decreased the odds ratio of suicide attempts. Nearly one in three students had had a suicide attempt. Several factors, including mental distress, violence, and risky behaviors were found to be associated with suicide attempts. These can aid in designing intervention strategies for preventing suicidal behaviors among adolescents.
Highlights
The prevalence of suicide attempts during the previous 12 months was 32.1% (33.3% for the males and 31.3% for the females), which was much higher than in previous studies based on the Mongolian Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) of 2010 (8.7%) [10] and 2013 (10%) [11]
This study found that having no close friends was a risk factor for suicide attempts among adolescents
Our findings showed that sexual intercourse was significantly associated with suicide attempts, which is in concordance with a previous research [23]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Suicide and suicide-related behavior in young people have become serious and urgent global public health problems. More than 700,000 people in the world lose their life each year as a consequence of suicide [1]. In 2016, more than one in every 100 deaths (1.3%) was the result of committing suicide, and among individuals aged between 15 to 19 years, it was the third-leading cause of mortality. Most of the world’s suicides occurred in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) (79%) [2], and in 2016, globally, more than
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
