Perceived rather than objective weight status is associated with suicidal behaviors among Chinese adolescents: a school-based study

Alexithymia and peer victimisation: interconnected pathways to adolescent non-suicidal self-injury

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents underscores the importance of understanding the complex factors that drive this behaviour. Framed within broader constructs of emotional regulation theories, alexithymia and peer victimisation are thought to interact to influence NSSI behaviours.

AIM

This research addresses whether alexithymia and peer victimisation serve as risk factors for NSSI and, if so, how these factors interact with each other.

METHOD

This quantitative study analysed data from 605 adolescents, using a range of validated self-report measures including the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Statistical analyses including one-way analysis of variance, multiple regression and structural equation modelling were employed to scrutinise the relationships among the variables.

RESULTS

Alexithymia and peer victimisation significantly predicted NSSI behaviours. Specifically, the 'difficulty in identifying feelings' subscale of alexithymia emerged as a noteworthy predictor of NSSI (P < 0.001). Peer victimisation mediated the relationship between alexithymia and NSSI, explaining approximately 24.50% of alexithymia's total effect on NSSI. In addition, age was a significant predictor of NSSI, but gender and education years were not (P > 0.05). These relationships were found to be invariant across genders.

CONCLUSIONS

This study enriches our understanding of the interplay between alexithymia, peer victimisation and NSSI, particularly within the Chinese context. Its findings have significant implications for a rethinking of alexithymia's theoretical construct and interventions targeting emotional literacy and peer dynamics among adolescents. Future research could benefit from a longitudinal design to establish causality.

The association of weight control attempts with suicidality: The role of objective weight status and weight perception among adolescents of United States

BACKGROUND

The evidence for the association of weight control attempts with suicidality by objective weight status, subjective weight perception, and distorted weight perception among adolescents was limited.

METHODS

Data were extracted from a national representative sample of Youth Risk Behavior Surveys in the United States from 2011 to 2019. Binary logistic regression models with complex sampling designs were used to explore the association of weight control attempts, objective weight status, and weight perception with suicidality.

FINDINGS

The adolescents attempting to lose weight had higher weighted prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and suicide attempt with medical treatment compared with other attempts of weight control. Totally, attempting to lose weight was significantly associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation (OR: 1.17, 95%CI: 1.05-1.30) and suicide attempt (OR: 1.26, 95%CI: 1.10-1.46) when adjusting objective weight status, weight perception and all other covariates. In the subgroup analyses, attempting to lose weight was significantly associated with increased risk of suicidality in the adolescents of normal weight, underweight, perceived normal weight, perceived underweight, right estimation of objective weight status.

LIMITATIONS

Uncertain causal relationship existed because of cross-sectional design.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of suicidality associated with weight control attempts varied among different subgroups. The findings in this study suggest that not only objective weight status but also weight perception should be with consideration when performing weight control attempts.

Relationships between Weight Perceptions and Suicidal Behaviors in Chinese Adolescents: Results from an Ongoing School-Based Survey in Zhejiang Province

BACKGROUND

Weight perception has been implicated in suicidal behaviors among children and adolescents, yet little is known about the relationships in China. We examined the associations of self-perceived weight status and weight misperception with suicidal behaviors among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

Data used in this analysis were from the 2017 Zhejiang Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which included 17,359 middle and high school students aged 9 to 18 years. Information on perceived weight status, as well as the actual height, weight and other related traits, was extracted by a self-reported questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for suicidal behaviors associated with perceived weight status and weight misperception.

RESULTS

Overall, the mean (SD) age was 15.7 (1.6) years among the study participants. Students who perceived themselves as overweight were more likely to have increased suicidal ideation and attempts reports, with ORs of 1.22 (95% CI: 1.09-1.37) and 1.32 (1.06-1.34), compared to those who perceive themselves as having about the right weight. Overestimated weight was significantly associated with greater odds of suicidal ideation (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.03-1.27) and attempts (1.35, 1.10-1.65) relative to accurate weight perception.

CONCLUSIONS

Controlling for potential confounders, we found that both self-perception of overweight and overestimated perception were significantly associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among Chinese adolescents.

Suicide attempts among students of higher education, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, South Africa

BACKGROUND

Worldwide, death by suicide is a leading cause of death among young people, and students of higher educational institutions constitute a vulnerable group. This study aimed to determine the lifetime prevalence and associated factors of suicide attempt among students of a higher education institution in Nelson Mandela Municipality.

METHODS

A cross sectional study was conducted among students of East Cape Midland College in Nelson Mandela Municipality. The participants were selected by stratified random sampling and a standardised self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.

RESULTS

The prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts was 16.0% among the participants. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed higher odds of suicide attempts among participants who: experienced bullying (OR: 1.66, CI: 1.05-2.61; p  0.001), had underlying medical conditions (OR: 3.27, CI: 2.08-5.14; p  0.001), had abnormal body weight perceptions (OR: 1.64, CI: 1.03-2.62; p  0.05), had experienced sexual abuse (OR: 5.72, CI: 2.86-11.45; p  0.001), or had someone very close who had experienced sexual abuse (OR: 1.77, CI: 1.02-3.05; p  0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study identified history of sexual abuse, bullying, perceptions of abnormal body weight and underlying medical conditions as associated risk factors of suicide attempts among the participants. The high prevalence of suicide attempts among the participants (16%) demonstrates the urgent need for campus-based interventions and prevention strategies aimed at addressing the identified associated factors.