Suicide Attempt and Associated Factors Among Adolescents in Five Southeast Asian Countries in 2015

Abstract. Background: Suicide is a major cause of death among adolescents. Aims: The study aimed to report on the prevalence and correlates of suicide attempt among in-school adolescents in five Southeast Asian countries. Method: Cross-sectional data from the 2015 Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) included 33,004 middle-school children (mean age = 14.3 years, SD = 1.6) that were representative of all students in secondary school in Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. Results: The overall prevalence of past 12-month suicide attempt was 9.0%, ranging from 3.9% in Indonesia to 16.2% in the Philippines. Among those with a suicide attempt in the past 12 months, almost half (49.0%) had suicidal ideation and 47.7% had a suicide plan in the past 12 months. In adjusted Poisson regression analysis, female gender, residing in Laos, Philippines, Thailand, and Timor-Leste, no close friends, loneliness, anxiety, bullying victimization, physical attack, lack of parental support, lack of peer support, current alcohol use, lifetime cannabis use, lifetime amphetamine use, soft drink consumption, truancy, and injury were associated with suicide attempt. Limitations: The correlational nature of the study limits the implications of the findings. Conclusion: Almost one in 10 students had attempted suicide in the past 12 months and several factors associated with suicide attempt were identified among adolescents in five Southeast Asian countries.