Abstract:
Background: Adolescence is the transitional period between childhood and adulthood. About 1.2
billion people in the world belongs to this age group and it represents a period of higher
vulnerability to everyday difficulties leading to impulsive and/or unpredictable behaviour.
Despite, most investigations, they fail to consider school or social environment as a factor. Most
suicide deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In Ethiopia there is scarcity of data on
suicidal behavior among adolescents at the community level and some important factor was not
addressed. Therefore, this study aims to assess the magnitude and associated factors of suicidal
behavior among adolescents in Jimma town, Southwest Ethiopia.
Objective: This study aimed at assessing the magnitude of suicidal behaviour, and its associated
factors among adolescents in Jimma town, Southwest, Ethiopia, 2022.
Method: A Community based cross-sectional study was employed among 633 adolescents of
Jimma town using an interviewer-administered pretested structured questionnaire. A Simple
random sampling technique was employed. Suicidal behavior questionnaire (SBQR) was used to
assess suicidal behavior. Point prevalence was determined. Bivariate and multivariate logistic
regression analysis was conducted to identify associated factors. Odds ratio and 95% confidence
interval (CI) with P-value <0.05 were used to declare statistical significance.
Result: A total of 628 respondents were involved in this study with response rate of 99.2%. Of
respondents 321(51.1%) were female and mean age was 15.8 (SD=+2.2) years. Over all
prevalence of suicidal behavior was 36.62%. Being female (AOR=1.5; 95%CI: (1.07, 2.17)),
age(17-19) (AOR=2.2; 95%CI: (1.31, 3.72)), family history of suicide (AOR=1.9; 95%CI: (1.27,
2.96)) physical abuse (AOR=1.7; 95%CI: (1.23, 2.59))), physical neglect (AOR=1.7; 95%CI:
(1.23, 2.53)), sexual abuse (AOR=1.6; 95%CI: (1.02, 2.58)) and current use of khat (AOR=1.7;
95%CI: (1.08 2.65)) were significantly associated with suicidal behavior.
Conclusion and recommendation: The study revealed that multiple factors lead to suicidal
behavior such as being female, late adolescent age, family history of suicide, physical abuse,
physical neglect, sexual abuse and current use of Khat. Early suicidal assessment and primary
prevention on identified risk factors was recommended to town health bureau.
