Prevalence and correlates of past 12-month suicide attempt among in-school adolescents in Guatemala

Figures & data

Table 1 Description of variables

Variables	Question	Response options (coding scheme)
Age	“How old are you?”	“11 years old or younger to 18 years old or older”
Sex	“What is your sex?”	“Male, Female”
Hunger	“During the past 30 days, how often did you go hungry because there was not enough food in your home?”	“1= never to 5= always (coded 1–3=0 and 4–5=1)”
Suicide ideation	“During the past 12 months, did you ever seriously consider attempting suicide?”	“Yes, No”
Suicide plan	“During the past 12 months, did you make a plan about how you would attempt suicide?”	“Yes, No”
Suicide attempt	“During the past 12 months, how many times did you actually attempt suicide?”	“1=0 times to 5=6 or more times (coded 1=0 and 2–5=1)”
Internalizing problems
No close friends	“How many close friends do you have?”	“1=0 to 4=3 or more (coded 1+=0, 0=1)”
Loneliness	“During the past 12 months, how often have you felt lonely?”	“1=never to 5=always (coded 1–3=0 and 4–5=1)”
Anxiety	“During the past 12 months, how often have you been so worried about something that you could not sleep at night?”	“1=never to 5=always (coded 1–3=0 and 4–5=1)”
Externalizing problems
Current alcohol use	“During the past 30 days, on how many days did you have at least one drink containing alcohol?”	“1=0 days to 7=All 30 days (coded 1=0 and 2–7=1)”
Current cannabis use	“During the past 30 days, how many times have you used marijuana?”	“1=0 times to 5=20 or more times (coded 1=0 and 2–5=1)”
Amphetamine use	“During your life, how many times have you used amphetamines or methamphetamines?”	“1=0 times to 5=20 or more times (coded 1=0 and 2–5=1)”
Ever sex	“Have you ever had sexual intercourse?”	“Yes, No”
Soft drinks	“During the past 30 days, how many times per day did you usually drink carbonated soft drinks, such as Coca-cola, Pepsi Cola, Sprite, Seven-up, Grapette, or Orange Crush? (Do not include diet soft drinks.)?”	“1=not in the past days to 7=5 or more times per day (coded 1–3=0 and 4–7=1)”
Bullied	“During the past 30 days, on how many days were you bullied?”	“1=0 days to 7=All 30 days (coded 1=0 and 2–7=1)”
Physically attacked	“During the past 12 months, how many times were you physically attacked?”	“1=0 times to 8=12 or more times (coded 1=0 and 2–8=1)”
In a physical fight	“During the past 12 months, how many times were you in a physical fight?”	“1=0 times to 8=12 or more times (coded 1=0 and 2–8=1)”
Injury	“During the past 12 months, how many times were you seriously injured?” “(An injury is serious when it makes you miss at least one full day of usual activities (such as school, sports, or a job) or requires treatment by a doctor or nurse.)”	“1=0 times to 8=12 or more times (coded 1=0 and 2–8=1)”

Table 2 Descriptive statistics of independent variables and by suicidal attempt

Variable (# missing cases)	Total sample			Suicide attempt
	All	Boys	Girls	All	Boys	Girls
	N (%)	% (95% CI)	% (95% CI)	% (95% CI)	% (95% CI)	% (95% CI)
Socio-demographics
All	4,274			16.6 (14.1, 19.4)	12.2 (9.0, 16.4)	20.2 (16.9, 23.9)
Sex (#84)
Female	2,170 (50.6)
Male	2,120 (49.4)
Age in years (#55)
13 or less	1,106 (28.6)	27.6 (20.7, 35.9)	28.6 (21.7, 36.8)	18.7 (14.9, 23.1)	15.0 (9.6, 22.6)	22.7 (16.3, 30.8)
14	1,278 (27.8)	26.1 (20.6, 32.5)	29.9 (25.2, 35.1)	16.1 (14.9, 21.3)	14.2 (8.7, 22.4)	17.1 (11.6, 24.5)
15	1,249 (25.8)	26.1 (21.6, 32.5)	26.4 (22.1, 31.2)	16.5 (12.4, 21.5)	11.2 (6.4, 18.9)	22.2 (16.7, 28.9)
16 or more	686 (17.7)	20.1 (12.5, 30.8)	15.1 (7.6, 27.7)	12.6 (7.6, 20.0)	6.3 (2.4, 15.5)	18.4 (7.6, 38.1)
Hunger (#56)
Never	1,660 (62.4)	59.6 (55.4, 63.8)	65.4 (58.6, 71.6)	14.3 (12.2, 16.7)	10.7 (7.4, 15.2)	17.1 (14.5, 19.9)
Rarely	1,069 (22.5)	26.0 (22.4, 29.9)	19.0 (15.2, 23.5)	17.7 (11.9, 25.4)	11.1 (6.1, 19.3)	26.1 (19.1, 34.6)
Sometimes/mostly/always	589 (15.0)	14.4 (10.5, 19.4)	15.6 (10.4, 22.8)	24.7 (17.5, 33.5)	20.5 (11.2, 34.5)	25.8 (16.4, 38.2)
Internalizing problems
No close friends (#116)	386 (7.1)	8.0 (5.9, 11.0)	6.0 (4.5, 8.0)	29.8 (22.0, 38.9)	25.2 (14.0, 41.1)	32.1 (18.1, 50.3)
Loneliness (#67)	447 (8.9)	5.3 (3.8, 7.3)	12.5 (10.2, 15.3)	50.5 (38.1, 62.7)	42.9 (23.9, 64.3)	52.8 (41.3, 63.9)
Anxiety (#151)	360 (7.1)	5.0 (3.5, 7.1)	8.9 (6.8, 11.7)	37.1 (26.4, 49.1)	23.5 (14.0, 36.6)	38.7 (21.7, 59.0)
Suicidal ideation (#184)	869 (18.0)	13.1 (9.7, 17.8)	22.6 (19.2, 26.6)	49.3 (42.7, 56.0)	39.8 (30.8, 49.5)	54.3 (44.8, 63.5)
Suicide plan (#158)	700 (13.7)	10.2 (8.3, 12.4)	17.4 (14.3, 20.8)	52.8 (41.5, 63.8)	40.4 (21.3, 63.1)	58.9 (49.0, 68.0)
Externalizing probems
Current alcohol use (#102)	953 (18.3)	19.8 (15.3, 25.2)	16.2 (12.9, 20.2)	30.2 (22.1, 39.7)	21.8 (12.8, 34.7)	36.0 (28.6, 44.1)
Current cannabis use (#197)	322 (4.1)	5.7 (4.0, 8.1)	2.6 (1.7, 3.8)	41.7 (24.7, 61.0)	34.0 (17.8, 54.9)	59.8 (33.7, 81.4)
Ever amphetamine use (#192)	170 (3.4)	4.7 (3.1, 7.0)	1.6 (0.9, 2.9)	60.9 (42.9, 76.5)	55.2 (36.1, 72.8)	76.9 (54.9, 90.1)
Ever sex (#472)	797 (19.7)	28.5 (23.1, 34.6)	10.2 (7.7, 13.3)	20.1 (13.7, 28.5)	16.4 (9.8, 26.1)	27.5 (18.0, 39.7)
Soft drinks (2 or more/day) (#26)	1,418 (28.0)	28.4 (22.8, 34.7)	28.6 (22.0, 36.3)	19.8 (15.6, 24.8)	15.7 (11.0, 22.1)	24.5 (17.1, 33.7)
Bullied (#294)	884 (23.9)	26.7 (21.8, 32.2)	20.8 (18.0, 23.9)	24.5 (17.6, 32.9)	19.7 (11.9, 31.0)	29.2 (19.3, 41.6)
Attacked (#56)	1,067 (23.9)	27.7 (23.4, 32.4)	19.3 (15.6, 23.5)	26.6 (20.8, 33.5)	23.1 (15.4, 33.0)	29.3 (20.7, 39.7)
In physical fight (#46)	1,114 (22.8)	30.9 (27.1, 35.0)	14.1 (11.4, 17.3)	22.1 (15.9, 29.8)	16.0 (10.4, 23.9)	31.6 (21.2, 44.2)
Injury (#26)	1,481 (31.8)	36.9 (32.3, 41.8)	26.3 (21.6, 31.5)	22.0 (17.5, 27.3)	17.0 (11.5, 24.3)	26.2 (19.5, 34.2)

Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.

Table 3 Logistic regression for predictors of suicide attempts

Variables	COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)^a
Socio-demographics
Sex
Female	1 (Reference)	1 (Reference)
Male	0.54 (0,37, 0.82)**	0.48 (0.30, 0.76)*
Age in years
13 or less	1 (Reference)	1 (Reference)
14	0.83 (0.53, 1.32)	0.82 (0.46, 1.46)
15	0.86 (0.55, 1.33)	0.60 (0.36, 1.01)
16 or more	0.62 (0.33, 1.20)	0.54 (0.20, 1.51)
Hunger
Never	1 (Reference)	1 (Reference)
Rarely	1.29 (0.84, 1.99)	1.29 (0.69, 2.42)
Sometimes/mostly/always	1.97 (1.28, 3.02)*	0.96 (0.62, 1.49)
Internalizing problems
No close friends	2.42 (1.67, 3.51)**	1.32 (0.52, 3.35)
Loneliness	6.78 (3.83, 12.03)**	4.81 (2.81, 8.24)**
Anxiety	3.54 (2.27, 5.52)**	1.13 (0.57, 2.22)
Externalizing problems
Current alcohol use	2.87 (1.87, 4.40)**	1.36 (0.90, 2.04)
Current cannabis use	4.13 (1.98, 6.62)**	1.59 (0.66, 3.83)
Ever amphetamine use	9.47 (4.80, 18.67)**	2.60 (0.51, 13.17)
Ever sex	1.63 (1.04, 2.55)	1.27 (0.73, 2.21)
Soft drinks (2 or more/day)	1.38 (1.00, 1.91)	1.17 (0.78, 1.75)
Bullied	2.29 (1.41, 3.71)**	1.15 (0.59, 2.24)
Attacked	2.36 (1.72, 3.24)**	1.42 (0.92, 2.21)
In physical fight	1.63 (1.13, 2.36)*	1.01 (0.60, 1.71)
Injury	1.72 (1.26, 2.36)**	1.41 (0.95, 2.08)

Notes: ^aAdjusted for all variables in the table; **P<0.001; *P<0.01.

Abbreviations: COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio.

Table 4 Logistic regression for predictors of suicide attempts in boys and girls

Variables	Boys		Girls
	COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)^a	COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)^a
Socio-demographics
Age in years
13 or less	1 (Reference)	1 (Reference)		1 (Reference)
14	0.94 (0.40, 2.20)	1.08 (0.44, 2.68)	0.70 (0.42, 1.17)	0.70 (0.33, 1.53)
15	0.72 (0.34, 1.51)	0.46 (0.22, 0.95)	0.97 (0.60, 1.57)	0.60 (0.27, 1.32)
16 or more	0.38 (0.12, 1.20)	0.25 (0.06, 1.12)	0.77 (0.23, 2.53)	0.82 (0.19, 3.55)
Hunger
Never	1 (Reference)	1 (Reference)		1 (Reference)
Rarely	1.05 (0.50, 2.17)	0.58 (0.17, 1.99)	1.71 (1.11, 2.64)	2.11 (1.19, 3.74)
Sometimes/mostly/always	2.16 (1.13, 4.11)	0.64 (0.29, 1.43)	1.69 (0.99, 2.86)	1.17 (0.59, 2.32)
Internalizing problems
No close friends	2.91 (1.45, 5.85)*	2.02 (0.70, 5.84)	2.01 (0.91, 4.42)	1.37 (0.43, 4.36)
Loneliness	6.76 (2.50, 18.31)**	7.36 (1.44, 37.58)	6.08 (3.61, 10.22)**	5.46 (3.49, 8.53)**
Anxiety	2.62 (1.44, 3.75)*	1.13 (0.24, 5.34)	2.82 (1.09, 7.29)	1.17 (0.47, 2.93)
Externalizing problems
Current alcohol use	2.80 (1.62, 4.84)**	0.48 (0.20, 1.15)	2.75 (1.69, 4.49)**	2.21 (1.29, 3.79)*
Current cannabis use	4.38 (2.03, 9.48)**	1.60 (0.28, 9.16)	6.57 (2.37, 18.20)**	1.92 (0.89, 4.16)
Ever amphetamine use	12.09 (6.10, 23.96)**	2.05 (0.29, 9.16)	14.28 (4.99, 40.86)**	3.54 (0.55, 22.92)
Ever sex	2.28 (1.35, 3.83)*	3.12 (1.01, 9.58)	1.78 (0.96, 3.31)	0.67 (0.25, 1.80)
Soft drinks (2 or more/day)	1.53 (0.95, 1.29)	1.31 (0.72, 2.39)	1.46 (0.90, 2.34)	1.05 (0.58, 1.90)
Bullied	2.77 (1.48, 5.19)*	1.17 (0.32, 4.32)	2.16 (1.13, 4.12)	1.15 (0.39, 3.40)
Attacked	3.54 (2.10, 5.98)**	1.60 (0.64, 4.00)	1.88 (1.14, 3.10)	1.20 (0.63, 2.26)
In physical fight	1.66 (0.99, 2.75)	0.91 (0.49, 1,72)	2.06 (1.19, 3.56)*	1.19 (0.64, 2.20)
Injury	1.94 (1.00, 3.79)	1.86 (0.87, 3.98)	1.61 (1.05, 2.48)	1.13 (0.43, 2.40)

Notes: ^aAdjusted for all variables in the table; **P<0.001; *P<0.01

Abbreviations: COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio.