Suicide Attempts among High School Students in Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay. Associated Factors from a Gender Perspective

María Marta Santillan Pizarro, CIECS CONICET y UCC
Laura Acosta, CIECS (CONICET y UNC)
Eduardo Pereyra, CIECS (CONICET - UNC) / UCC
Leandro Mariano González, CIECS (CONICET/UNC)

Suicide can be understood as the ultimate expression of absence of well-being. It represents a worldwide public health problem, given low priority by governments, with limitations in the implementation of prevention and intervention measures. Using data from the Global School Health Survey (GSHS-WHO), this paper aims to analyze, from a gender perspective, the behavior of high school students aged 13-17 in Argentina (2018), Bolivia (2018), and Uruguay (2019) in relation to suicide attempts and their association with risk and protective factors. Logistic regression models were applied. Specifically, the interaction term between each factor and gender was analyzed to detect any differences in risk between males and females when exposed to those factors. A general pattern showed higher exposure to suicide attempt risk among females, even when controlling for various factors. Situations such as physical and psychological violence, substance use, and lower maternal educational levels were associated with a greater increase in the risk of suicide attempts among females compared to males. Feelings of loneliness or a lack of friends increased the likelihood of suicide among males more than among females. The relevance lies in the finding that the main risk factors become more prevalent during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods, possibly leading to an increase in suicide attempts.

Keywords: Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Health and Morbidity, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination

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