Suicide ideation and suicide plan in Chinese left-behind children: Prevalence and associated factors

Suicide ideation (SI) and suicide plan (SP) can be seen as immediate precursors of suicide. The major aim of this study is to estimate the severity of SI and SP among LBC, and explore their associated factors.

A population-based random sampling survey of 2898 LBC was performed. Self-developed structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information. The prevalence of one-week and lifetime SI and SP was estimated, univariate and multivariate logistic regression model were used to analyze the associated factors of SI in LBC, as well as the associated factors of SP in LBC who reported SI.

For surveyed LBC, the one-week prevalence rates of SI and SP were 6.76% (95%CI: 5.30-8.00%) and 2.31% (95%CI: 1.80-2.93%), the lifetime prevalence rates of SI and SP were 20.8% (95%CI: 17.2-25.0%) and 7.69% (95%CI: 4.84-11.0%). Girls reported higher prevalence of SI, while SP severity showed insignificant gender difference. Sex, grade, SH behaviors, depression and psychological resilience were consistently associated with both one-week and lifetime SI. Age and depression were prominent influencing factors of SP in one-week suicide ideators, grade, self-harm history, depression, mother's education level were associated factors of SP in lifetime suicide ideators.

The prevalence of SI and SA in Chinese LBC is high. Girls, junior high school students, self-harmed, depressed, less psychologically resilient individuals were observed increased prevalence of SI, depression may play a significant role in facilitating the transition from SI to SP.