|
Abstract
|
OBJECTIVE: Globally, rates of youth suicide vary considerably. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) are consistently associated with risk of death by suicide. However, international trends in STB have not yet been compared. To address this gap, we conducted an international meta-analysis of epidemiological and school-based studies that report on STB in youth.
METHOD: Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed and PsycINFO through April 2022. Eligible studies included prevalence of active suicidal ideation (SI) or suicide attempt (SA) in community youth under the age of 22. All studies were coded by two authors. Mixed models accounting for shared methods and including hypothesized moderators were conducted using the metafor package in R.
RESULTS: There were 376 effect sizes for SI, 96 for ideation with a plan, and 321 for SA, representing 149 regions. Year of data collection ranged from 1981 to 2021. Participants were 6 to 21 years old. The prevalence of SI ranged across regions from 14.3% to 22.6%; the prevalence of SA ranged from 4.6% to 16.9%. Year was not associated with increasing STB prevalence, with the exception of studies from the United States, which showed increasing rates of SI and SA since 2007.
CONCLUSION: This is the most comprehensive meta-analysis of STB in youth, providing valuable data about how the risk factors most commonly associated with suicide vary internationally and over time. International rates of STB among youth are not improving and may be getting worse in the United States, despite efforts to reduce suicide risk. Most studies did not report SI or SA rates separately for LGBTQIA+ and youth of color. A better understanding of proximal risk at the individual level will be important to informing future prevention efforts, especially for these high-risk groups.
Language: en |