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Suicide is a serious public health issue with more deaths worldwide than malaria, and HIV/AIDS in 2019 according to the World Health Organization. Almost nine out of ten adolescents who died by suicide in 2019 were from low- and middle-income countries. In Ghana, we know little about the epidemiology of suicide ideation, plan and attempts among middle school students in Ghana including the years preceding high school. This study explores the onset, characteristics, and recent patterns of suicide behavior among Ghanaian middle school students.
Methods
Paper based surveys were administered to a sample (n=800) of middle school students in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Self-reported measures on suicide ideation, plan and attempt as well as several psychological and psychosocial factors related to mental health, substance use, poverty, sexual behavior, interpersonal relationships, and family structure were employed. Bi-variate and Multivariate analysis analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 25) to assess the correlates of suicide ideation, plan, and attempt. Logistic regressions were also conducted to determine risk and protective factors of suicidal behaviors.
Results
This study found that 1 out of 4 adolescents have experienced suicide ideation in their lifetime and 1 out of 5 have experienced suicide ideation in the last 12 months. Girls had significantly higher lifetime (χ2 = 3.89, p<0.05) and 12-month (χ2 = 3.5, p<0.05) suicide ideation rates than boys. More importantly, the study found stress significantly increasing the odds of suicide behaviors in the last 12 months (β = 1.14; CI = 1.05 – 1.24, p<0.05) and parental support significantly reducing the odds of suicide behaviors in the last 12 months (β = 0.86; CI = 0.81 – 0.91, p<0.05). Additionally, we found significant associations between sexual intercourse, dating, hunger, substance use, suicide stigma and suicide behaviors.
Conclusions and Implications
The study suggests suicidal behaviors are high among middle school students in Ghana and occurring at much younger ages than previously thought. This finding highlights a potential emerging suicide crisis among preteens which warrants attention. Additional studies are needed to observe these increasing trends, identify risk, protective and precipitating factors to help prevent suicide among these children. The findings regarding the protective role of parental support, suggest sets a family-based suicide prevention interventions might be effective. Future research much consider the opportunity to learn more about the linkages between children’s suicide behaviors when designing appropriate suicide intervention and prevention strategies for this population.