Determinants of suicidal ideation and gender differences among a normative sample of adolescents

Résumé

This study contributes to the limited literature on the socio-psychological determinants of suicide and self-injurious behaviour amongst adolescents by providing data on a normative sample and exploring gender differences. Associations between self-report data on self-image, physical and psychological health and suicidal cognitions, self-injurious behavior and suicidal intent were investigated in a large representative sample of 988 German high-school students (aged 14-28 years) with an attempt to identify socio-psychological variables risk factors. The adolescents were administered a battery of questionnaires aimed at assessing anxiety-depression, trait addiction, smoking and drinking behavior, physical ill-health reports, self-perception of self-image, parental acceptance and socio-psychological variables educational attainment. Several statements were incorporated to assess self-injury and suicidal ideation. In this study, suicidal ideation was significantly more endorsed by female compared with male adolescents. Girls also tended to engage in significantly more self-destructive behaviours than boys. Socio-psychological variables explained over one third of the variance observed in subjectively reported suicidal ideation. The common general significant predictor was anxiety-depression. For males the specific somatic factor was general colds and for females it was circulatory ailments. Conversely, tiredness, social problems and maternal rejection were statistically significant predictors of suicidal ideation but again the direction of impact was counter intuitive. Findings are discussed in terms of preventative strategies. [Tiré du chapitre] ALLEMAGNE EUROPE GENRE HOMME FEMME ADOLESCENT IDÉATION TENTATIVE COMPORTEMENT-SUICIDAIRE COMPORTEMENT-AUTODESTRUCTEUR ÉTUDIANT-SECONDAIRE ÉTUDE-COMPARATIVE QUESTIONNAIRE FACTEUR-RISQUE DÉPISTAGE PRÉVENTION ABUS-SUBSTANCE CONCEPT-SOI DYNAMIQUE-FAMILIALE SANTÉ-MENTALE TROUBLE-ANXIEUX DÉPRESSION TROUBLE-SOMATIQUE INTENSITÉ INTENTION PRÉVALENCE REJET RELATION-INTERPERSONNELLE DÉSIR-MORT