Relationship Between Protective Factors and Suicidal Ideation in Ghanaian Adolescents

Background/Purpose: The World Health Organization estimates that the annual world mortality rate from suicide is 14.5 per 100,000. Suicide as a cause of death varies widely by country however, rates in developed countries tend to range from 10-35 per 100,000. In developed countries, it can be the 2nd or 3rd cause of death for teenagers and young adults. Suicide related data among adolescents in many African countries is non-existent. To help bridge this gap, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between suicidal ideation and protective factors among Ghanaian senior high school student.

Methods: We utilized data from the 2008 Ghana Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). A total of 7,137 senior secondary school students participated in this self-reported survey. Three questions were selected for analysis. The first asked about suicide consideration, the second asked about perceived parental understanding of child problems and worries and the third asked about the number of close friends. Complex tables with test of significance were created for suicide consideration by parental understanding and suicide consideration by number of close friends when considering gender.

Analysis/Results: An association was found between self reported number of close friends and suicide ideation in the preceding 12 months (X² = 32.84, F = 17.29, df1 = 1.2, df2 = 1060.44, p < .001). Students who report having no close friends (23.0% ± 3.6) were significantly more likely to have seriously considered suicide in the preceding 12 months than students who have 1-2 close friends (14.2% ± 1.3) and those who have 3 or more close friends (12.7% ± 1.7). Furthermore, perception of parental understanding also showed high association with suicidal ideation (X² = 62.44, F = 37.2, df1 = 1.97, df2 = 1046.14, p < .001). Students who report that their parents rarely or never understood their problems and worries (21.1% ± 2.5) were significantly more likely to have seriously considered suicide than those who reported that their parents always/mostly (11.7% ± 1.1) and sometimes (16.0% ± 1.5) understood them.

Conclusions: This study is the first to examine suicide ideation among Ghanaian adolescents at the national level. The significant association between protective factors (parental understanding and number of close friends) and suicidal ideation indicates a need for additional research to examine predictors of suicide ideation among this group.