Suicidal behavior and related psychosocial factors among middle school students in urban and rural areas of Changsha municipality

Objective To investigate prevalences of three specific suicide behaviors and related psychosocial factors among middle school students and to provide basis for suicide prevention and intervention.Methods A stratified cluster sampling survey was carried out with a self-designed questionnaire,suicidal behavior questionnaire,Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List(ASLEC),Interaction Anxiousness Scale(IAS),and Self-Esteem Scale(SES) in 2 216 middle school students in Changsha city.Results In the past one year,24.2% of the students had suicide ideation,6% had made a specific plan to attempt suicide,and 2.5% actually had attempted suicide.The incidences of suicide ideation and suicide attempt in the girls were higher than those in the boys(χ²=34.814,P=0.000;χ²=5.924,P=0.015).The incidences of suicide plan and suicide attempt in the rural students were higher than those in the urban students(χ²=16.687,P=0.000;χ²=5.834,P=0.016).The incidence of suicide plan in the senior high school students was higher than that in the junior school students(χ²=8.109,P=0.004).The main risk factors for the three specific suicide behaviors included with single-parent family,family violence,negative life event,interaction anxiousness,and low self-esteem.Conclusion Suicide ideation is not rare in middle school students and specific intervention on related psychosocial risk factors should be promoted among the students.