Suicide Risks among Adolescents and Young Adults in Rural China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Sibo Zhao¹  Jie Zhang¹  Danuta Wasserman²  Vladimir Carli² 

[1] School of Social Development, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China;id="af1-ijerph-12-00131">1School of Social Development, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, Chi

关键词: suicide;    risk factors;    adolescent;    young adult;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph120100131

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Background: In China, suicide is one of the major causes of death among adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 34 years. Aim: The current study examines how risk factors vary by age groups in rural China, referring to those aged 15 to 24 years and those aged 25 to 34 years. Method: A case-control psychological autopsy (PA) study is conducted in sixteen counties from three Chinese provinces, including 392 suicide cases and 416 community living controls in the sample. Results: In China, young adults aged 25 to 34 years have a higher risk for suicide than adolescents aged 15 to 24 years, and it holds true even controlling for relevant social factors. In addition, age-related factors such as education, marital status, whether having children, status in the family, physical health, and personal income all have varying degrees of impact on suicide risks for rural youth. Conclusions: This study shows that there are some age-related risk factors for suicide at certain life stages and emphasizes that young adults in rural China aged 25 to 34 years have an increased risk of suicide as a result of experiencing more psychological strains with age.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.