Factors associated with attempted suicide in adolescents

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Adolescence is a period that involves risk for the emergence of dangerous behaviors such as alcohol consumption, drug a-buse, risky sexual behavior, violence and suicidal intent. OBJECTIVE. To identify risk factors associated with suicide attempts. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Qualitative-quantitative, retrospective, non-experimental study. Population and sample of 35 data from clinical records of patients between 10 and 15 years of age admitted with a diagnosis of Suicide Attempt at the Hospital General Ambato in the period January 2015 to December 2019Inclusion criteria were adolescents between 10 and 15 years of age with suicide attempt and its recurrence. The sampling method was by cluster. The Plutchik scale was applied. SPSS 23 software was used, variables were generated and labeled, and measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated. RESULTS. 82.8% involved the female gender. Factors such as: family dysfunction, bullying, domestic violence, absence of parents at home, were identified as frequent (91.4%). The years with the highest suicide attempts were 2017 (34.29%) and 2016 (14.29%) with 1 consummated act. CONCLUSIONS. The female gender is more susceptible to present suicidal ideas, and the risk factors are preventable, so that health policies should emphasize preventive actions and implement mental health programs that allow identifying certain behaviors and prevent death.