Prevalence of Depression and Its Association with Suicide Risk in Junior High School Students of Ubon Ratchathani Province
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objectives : To determine the prevalence of depression and risk of suicide, and to examine the
association between depression and suicide risk of children studying in a junior high school.
Methods : This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Participants were 143 students aged
13-14 years old studying in junior high school at Ubon Ratchathani province. They were recruited
by a simple random sampling from the list of all students using a computer program. The Thai
version of the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI-Thai) was used to screen depression as a cut
of the point at 15 and 21 scores. The Suicidality of Adolescent Screening Scale (SASS) was used
to assess the risk of suicide as a cut score of five. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data
for identifying the prevalence of depression and risk of suicide. Inferential statistics of the
Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient were used to analysis of the
association between depression and suicide.
Results : The majority of participants were female, approximately 62.2%, the average age of
13-41 years old (SD=0.49). The prevalence of depression in the children was 25.2%, using the
cut of a point at 15 scores and 11.9% using the cut of the point at 21 scores of CDI. The girls were
a higher rate of depression than the boys. The overall risk of suicide was 16.8 percent. The girls
were more likely to be a more significant risk of suicide than the boys. Depression was related to
the risk of suicide in children studying in junior high school (Crude OR=48.53, 95% CI=12.90-
182.65). The children experiencing depression were more likely to be the risk of suicide
approximately 48 times compared with children without depression (r = .857, p <0.01).
Conclusion : The prevalence of depression and the risk of suicide in children studying in junior
high school of this study could find at a high rate. Depression was associated with the risk of
suicide in this group. Therefore, high schools should effectively establish a surveillance system
for the prevention and management of depression and suicide.
Article Details
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