Risk Factors and Correlates of Self-Injurious Behavior and Suicidal Ideation among College Students

ABSTRACT

This research examines psychosocial risk factors of non-suicidal self injury (NSSI) and suicidal ideation among a sample of college students. Data were collected from a random sample of 1,153 undergraduate students attending a Midwestern public university. Logistic regression was used to investigate various risk factors of NSSI and suicidal ideation, including respondent demographic characteristics, mental health, sexual victimization, substance use, and academic anxiety. Overall, 7% of the college students reported engaging in NSSI in the past year, while 8% reported suicidal ideation in the past year. Factors associated with significantly higher likelihood of NSSI and suicidal ideation include non-heterosexual orientation, sexual victimization, substance use, depression, and low self-esteem and self-efficacy. Students experiencing psychosocial and health related factors were found to be at an increased risk for NSSI and suicidal ideation.

Notes

¹ To address missing data, a dichotomous variable was created including the 103 individuals with missing data and a logistic regression was performed using the missing data measure as the dependent variable with all other independent measures included in the analysis. No significant results were found, suggesting that the measures used in the current analysis that contain missing data did not introduce bias into the analyses.

² Variance inflation factors were analyzed and there was no evidence of multicollinearity between the independent variables.

³ The measures of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana were included in all prior analyses and were not found to affect the study results, and thus there were not included here.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicholas W. Bakken

Nicholas W. Bakken, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. His research focuses broadly on criminal offending across the life course, treatment and programmatic evaluation studies, substance use, and health.