Suicide ideation and attempt in a community cohort of urban Aboriginal youth: a cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND
There has been increasing attention over the last decade on the issue of indigenous youth suicide. A number of studies have documented the high prevalence of suicide behavior and mortality in Australia and internationally. However, no studies have focused on documenting the correlates of suicide behavior for indigenous youth in Australia.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of suicide ideation and attempt and the associated factors for a community1 cohort of Koori2 (Aboriginal) youth.


METHODS
Data were obtained from the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS) Young People's Project (YPP), a community initiated cross-sectional data set. In 1997/1998, self-reported data were collected for 172 Koori youth aged 12-26 years living in Melbourne, Australia. The data were analyzed to assess the prevalence of current suicide ideation and lifetime suicide attempt. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to identify closely associated social, emotional, behavioral, and cultural variables at baseline and Cox regression modeling was then used to identify associations between PCA components and suicide ideation and attempt.


RESULTS
Ideation and attempt were reported at 23.3% and 24.4%, respectively. PCA yielded five components: (1) emotional distress, (2) social distress A, (3) social distress B, (4) cultural connection, (5) behavioral. All were positively and independently associated with suicide ideation and attempt, while cultural connection showed a negative association.


CONCLUSIONS
Suicide ideation and attempt were common in this cross-section of indigenous youth with an unfavorable profile for the emotional, social, cultural, and behavioral factors.
Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia. joanne.luke@vahs.org.au
Joanne N
JN
Luke
Ian P
IP
Anderson
Graham J
GJ
Gee
Reg
R
Thorpe
Kevin G
KG
Rowley
Rachel E
RE
Reilly
Alister
A
Thorpe
Paul J
PJ
Stewart
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult