Relationship between suicidal ideation and parental out-migration for work among left-behind children aged 14 years or younger in Guizhou province

Objective To explore the influence of parental out-migration for work on suicidal ideation of their left-behind offsprings at the age of 14 years or younger in Guizhou province.Methods Using stratified random sampling,3 745 children aged ≥14 years were selected from 89 administrative villages and surveyed with a questionnaire about demography and Self-Rating Idea of Suicide Scale(SIOSS).Results The incidence of suicide ideation was 12.88%in the left-behind children and 9.40%in the non-left-behind children,with a significant difference between the two groups(χ²=11.152,P=0.001).Compared to that of non-left-behind children,the incidence of suicide ideation was 14.44%(27/187) for the left-behind children with mothers of out-migration for work and 14.55%(187/1 285)for the left-behind children with both mother and father of out-migration for work,with significant differences in the incidence(χ²=4.776 and 18.765,P<0.05 for all).The left-behind children with fathers of out-migration for work had a significantly lower incidence of suicidal ideation(8.77%,52/593)than those with maternal or parental out-migration for work(χ²=5.020 and 12.220,P<0.05 for all).The children with different status of parental out-migration for work had significantly different scores for hopelessness,sleeping,and optimism domain(F=6.646,5.128,and 9.039;P<0.01 for all).Multi-factor analyses showed that the number of friends(odds ratio[OR]=0.560)and care activities(OR=0.496)were main influence factors of suicidal ideation for the left-behind children.Conclusion The status of parental out-migration for work,especially maternal out-migration for work,impacts the incidence of suicide ideation among left-behind children.