Citation

Flisher AJ, Ziervogel CF, Chalton DO, Leger PH, Robertson BA. S. Afr. Med. J. 1993; 83(7): 474-476.

Affiliation

Centre for Epidemiological Research in Southern Africa, Parowvallei, CP.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, South African Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8211483

Abstract

The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the results for suicidal behaviour are presented. Cluster sampling techniques produced a sample of 7,340 students from 16 schools in the three major education departments. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. During the previous 12 months, 19% of students had seriously thought about harming themselves in a way that might result in their death, 12.4% had told someone that they intended to put an end to their life, and 7.8% had actually tried to put an end to their life. There were different trends according to gender, standard and language(s) spoken at home. Of those who had made a suicide attempt during the previous 12 months, 85.7% indicated that they had seriously thought about doing so, while 57.7% had told someone that they intended putting an end to their life. There is in many cases no continuity from suicidal ideation to communicating suicidal intent to an actual attempt.

Language: en