Suicidal ideation, depression, delinquency, and self-esteem among Chinese young rural adolescents: A path analytic model

Background/objectives: Although suicidal ideation is a major public health problem in China, few empirical studies have investigated the relationships between the psychosocial factors and suicidal ideation among young rural adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 220 male and 241 female students in three middle schools in a rural area of China. A path analytic model approach was used to estimate the strength of the interrelationships. Results: Ten percent of students reported having suicidal ideation during the past 6 months. More female students (14%) than male student (6%) reported having suicidal ideation. Among male students, self-esteem had a significantly negative association with depression; and delinquency was positively associated with depression and suicidal ideation. Among female students, self-esteem was inversely related to depression; delinquency had a positive association with depression; and depression was positively related to suicidal ideation. Depression mediated the relationships of self-esteem and delinquency with suicidal ideation among female students, but not among male students. For males, the model accounted for 24% of the variance in depression and 67% in suicidal ideation. For females, the model accounted for 34% of the variance in depression and 63% in suicidal ideation. The goodness fit indices indicated models fitted the data well. Conclusions: The gender variation on factors associated with suicidal ideation suggests that the development of suicide prevention intervention among young adolescents need to take gender roles into consideration.