Correlates of Suicidal Ideation among Secondary School Students in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Suicide ideation among students in all various institution of learning has become a pressing public health and social concern in the society, with its adverse effects spreading across academic, psychological and social dimensions. In particular, secondary school students are increasingly exposed to environments and pressures that make them vulnerable to suicide ideation. These include substance abuse, parental negligence and peer pressure. Therefore, this study examines substance abuse, parental negligence, and peer pressure as correlates of suicide ideation among secondary school students.
The study adopted a descriptive survey research design of correlational type. A total of 250 secondary school students were selected from 10 schools in Ibadan, Oyo State using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires consisting of demographic information and sections which are scales on suicide ideation, substance abuse, parental negligence, and peer pressure. Three research questions were answered using Correlation and Multiple Regression Analysis at 0.05 level of significant.
The findings of the study showed that peer influence substance abuse; r(248)=.522, p<0.05), peer pressure; r(248)=.476, p<0.05) and parental negligence; r(248)=.461, p<0.05) had significant relationship to suicide ideation among secondary school students. The independent variables jointly accounted for 46.9% variance indicating suicide ideation among students. Also, substance abuse β = 0.37, at t = 5.83, p<0.05, peer pressure β = 0.31, t = 5.29, p<0.05 and parental negligence β = 0.29, t = 5.00, p<0.05 had significant relative contribution to suicide ideation among secondary school students.
It was recommended among others that parents should build emotional bonds with their children and maintain open communication while Government agencies and educational stakeholders should organize community-based sensitization on suicide ideation among adolescents.