Correlates of suicidal ideation and attempts among colleges students in India: A multi-state cross-sectional survey

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

• Despite the high level of burden, there is surprisingly little research into suicidal behaviour among young adults in educational institutions in India. Our study reports on the results of a large survey ( n = 8542) of students recruited from 30 colleges from across nine states of India. • We adopted an ideation-to-action analytical approach, to distinguish those factors associated with suicidal ideation from those that were associated with suicide attempts among ideators. • The odds of experiencing suicidal ideation were highest among younger aged students. Divorce, lower levels of social support, tobacco consumption, exposure to stressful life events, sexual intercourse with both males and females, exposure to suicidal ideation in others and anxiety symptoms were also indicated. • Higher odds of a suicide attempt among ideators were observed among those who: had poor quality family relationships, were consuming greater amounts of alcohol, had consumed cannabis, and those who had been engaging in non-suicidal self-injury. Exposure to suicidal behaviour was also a significant risk factor, with higher odds of attempts among ideators who had been exposed to suicidal ideation in others, and/or had been exposed to the suicide death of people they had personally known. Youth suicide represents a significant public health problem in India. This paper reports on the results of a large survey examining the correlates of suicidal ideation and attempts among college students in India, adopting an ideation-to-action framework. Participants ( n = 8,542) were recruited from 30 universities spanning nine states of India, and they completed a self-administered questionnaire assessing the 12-month prevalence of suicidal thoughts and attempts, symptoms of depression and anxiety, non-suicidal self-injury, exposure to suicidality in others, as well as a suite of other health and social indicators. Generalised linear models were used to examine the correlates of suicidal ideation, and the correlates of suicide attempts among ideators. Just over one-in-ten (12.3 %) reported suicidal ideation in the preceding 12 months, 5.2 % reported a suicide attempt and 12.2 % reported non-suicidal self-injury. Just over one-third (34.8 %) of ideators reported a suicide attempt in the past 12 months. Higher odds of a suicide attempt among ideators were observed among those who: had bad/very bad quality family relationships, were consuming greater amounts of alcohol, had used cannabis, had been exposed to suicidal ideation in others, had been exposed to the suicide death of people they had personally known, and those who had been engaging in non-suicidal self-injury. Our study revealed a suite of important factors that correlate with suicidality among college students in India, and our analytical approach highlights those factors that are associated with the progression from suicidal ideation to suicide attempts.