Citation

Denton EGD. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2021; 51(2): 189-196.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sltb.12693

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Studied mostly in developed countries, the increased prevalence of suicide among youth, worldwide, is a preventable public health concern. Guyana, a developing country in South America, has the highest rate of youth death by suicide. Based on the diathesis-stress model, this community-based study aimed to identify both psychiatric and biological factors associated with repeated suicide attempts among high-risk youth.

OBJECTIVE: We measured psychiatric symptoms, childhood traumas, and cortisol to identify correlates with recurrent suicide attempts.

METHOD: Poisson regression tested the association between psychiatric symptoms, trauma, and cortisol levels on number of suicide attempts among 50 youths from three child welfare orphanages in Guyana. Sixty-six percent were female, and the average age was 14 years. DSM-5 symptom measure was administered and saliva samples collected.

RESULTS: Fifty percent of the youth endorsed suicide attempt. Within this subsample, a minimum of one and maximum of five suicide attempts were self-reported. Participants' number of suicide attempts was positively associated with number of past traumas, psychosis, and depression symptoms.

CONCLUSION: Suicide prevention screening among at-risk youth should target severity of psychosis and depression reports and number of traumatic life experiences.

Language: en