title: Suicide ideation and psychosocial distress in sub-Saharan African youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if there is an association between psychosocial distress, health-risk behaviors and 12-month suicidal ideation among sub-Saharan African adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects included a cross-national sample of adolescents (N = 25,568) representing 7 African countries who completed the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Students with 3-4 psychosocial distress indicators were 4-5 times more likely to report suicide ideation or having made a suicide plan, and those with 4-5 risky health behaviors were 2.5-3.5 times more likely.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interventions designed to identify African adolescents with cumulative psychosocial distress indicators and risky health behaviors have potential as effective suicide prevention strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. randy_page@byu.edu
authors.forename: Randy M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Joshua H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: West
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D059020:Suicidal Ideation