title: Suicide risks among adolescents and young adults in rural China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In China, suicide is one of the major causes of death among adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 34 years.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The current study examines how risk factors vary by age groups in rural China, referring to those aged 15 to 24 years and those aged 25 to 34 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control psychological autopsy (PA) study is conducted in sixteen counties from three Chinese provinces, including 392 suicide cases and 416 community living controls in the sample.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In China, young adults aged 25 to 34 years have a higher risk for suicide than adolescents aged 15 to 24 years, and it holds true even controlling for relevant social factors. In addition, age-related factors such as education, marital status, whether having children, status in the family, physical health, and personal income all have varying degrees of impact on suicide risks for rural youth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that there are some age-related risk factors for suicide at certain life stages and emphasizes that young adults in rural China aged 25 to 34 years have an increased risk of suicide as a result of experiencing more psychological strains with age.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China. sibozhao@buffalo.edu.
authors.forename: Sibo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Social Development, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China. zhangj@buffalostate.edu.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult