Predictors of Suicide Attempts in the Korean Adolescent Population

청소년의 자살 시도 예측 요인 - 수도권과 광역시 거주 청소년을 대상으로 -

Purposes: The purposes of this study were ① to identify the rate of suicide attempts, and ② to investigate relevant variables(family dynamic environment, personality factors) and risk factors for attempting suicide among Korean adolescents. Method: Data were collected through a questionnaire survey. Internal consistencies for this questionnaire ranged from 0.63 to 0.88. Nine hundred and twenty two adolescents were surveyed (delinquent : 367, student : 555), using a proportional stratified random sampling method. Statistical methods employed were chi-square, t-test, and logistic regression analysis. Results: ① The rate of suicide attempts was 10.8％ for the total sample, and the delinquents(19.6％) had a higher rate of suicide attempts than the students(5.1％). ② Adolescents attempting suicide had a greater dysfunctional family dynamic environment and more maladaptive personality than those who did not attempt suicide. ③ Risk factors for suicide attempts among Korean adolescents were way of coping, psychosomatic symptoms, and parental child-rearing attitudes, in that order. Conclusions: Suicide and suicidal behaviors are multifaceted events. For suicide prevention, there is a need to make an independent assessment of the variables such as familial problems, personality and dynamic environment of the families of the adolescents.