Effects of Smoking, Drinking and Drug use on the Adolescent's Suicidal Ideation by using the Data of the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey through from 2008 to 2014

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the association between suicidal thoughts and the co-occurrence of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use among adolescents. Methods: This study used the data of the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey from 2008 through 2014. The subjects of this study were 517,866 students, in total (Male 266,500, Female 251,366). Frequency analysis was conducted on the data about the subjects' general characteristics and their experience of smoking, drinking, and drug use. The relationship between suicidal thoughts and the co-occurrence of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use was analyzed through x 2 -test and logistic regression. The analyses were done using SAS 9.4. Results: According to the study, adolescents who used alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs at the same time engaged in suicidal ideation 3.69 times more than their peers who didn't use such substances (95% CI: 3.40~4.00, p<.001). Also, adolescents who used only tobacco, only alcohol, and only drugs engaged in suicidal ideation 1.49 times (95% CI: 1.43~1.56, p<.001), 1.28 times (95% CI: 1.26~1.31, p<.001) and 2.34 times (95% CI: 2.04~2.69, p<.001) more than the students who didn't use any substances, respectively. Conclusion: Adolescents' suicidal ideation and the co-occurrence of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use had a statistically significant relationship.