Association between household socioeconomic status and suicidal behaviors among Korean adolescents before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between household socioeconomic status (SES) and suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts among adolescents across the COVID-19 pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2015–2024). Suicide-related behaviors were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression, with interactions between SES and the COVID-19 periods. Results: Lower SES was associated with higher odds of suicidal behaviors in the pre-pandemic period, and this association persisted across all stratified models. Adolescents in the lowest economic group showed significantly higher odds of suicide-related behaviors than adolescents in the highest economic group. Significant interactions between SES and the pandemic period were found, indicating that disparities in suicide planning widened among middle- and low-income adolescents during and after the pandemic. Among adolescents in the highest SES group, overall odds of suicidal behaviors decreased during the pandemic but rebounded in the post-pandemic phase, with the rebound being most pronounced among economically vulnerable groups. Conclusion: The pandemic may have intensified mental health inequalities among adolescents, particularly about suicide planning in the post-pandemic period. Targeted suicide prevention strategies for socioeconomically disadvantaged adolescents, along with sustainable mental health support systems, are needed.