Attempted suicide and sexual abuse in a school population

Abstract

Depression is the leading cause of morbidity and disability among adolescents and suicide is the third cause of death in the world. To describe characteristics of a population of school adolescents with suicide attempt. Cross-sectional descriptive and retrospective study with probabilistic sampling. Data base of adolescents from 56 public and private schools. Three-staged probabilistic sampling. A self-administered structured and anonymous questionnaire was applied with previous authorization. To know their level of satisfaction with aspects of their lives, the Plan of Action on Health and Development of Adolescents and Youth in the Americas of WHO/PAHO was used. The information was loaded in Excel and analyzed by SPSS. Total population (661), 16.6% (110) stated that they tried to kill themselves, 46.4% (51) were men and 53.6% (59) women. 20.2% (22) of the students were between 12 and 14 years old, 61.7% (68) between 15 and 17, 17.2% (19) were 18 years old or more. 59.1% (54) were in Middle School and 50% (55) in High School. 51.8% (68) were in public schools and 30.9% (34) in private ones. 67.3% (74) lived with their parents, 23.6% (26) worked at the time of the study and 39.1% (43) had a relative with suicide attempt. 11.8% (13) referred that they suffered sexual abuse 38.2% (42) the first time they were asked and 38.2% when the question was repeated. 19.1% (21) ever consulted for emotional problems. There’s a significant correlation between having suffered sexual abuse and suicide attempt (p=0,000). Severe situations of mental health disorders were evidenced without being detected institutionally as an opportunity to intervene and avoid adolescent deaths.