Abstract
Background
Adolescents with obesity are more likely to exhibit suicide behaviors, but this association
may be confounded by psychosocial stigma related to obesity. We examined whether the
obesity is independently associated with suicide behaviors among United States adolescents,
after adjusting for the psychosocial factors.
Methods
We analyzed data from 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data (N = 13,871 United States
adolescents) on recent (past year) suicide behavior (attempt, ideation, and plan);
demographics (age, sex, and race/ethnicity); and psychosocial factors (feeling sad/hopeless,
alcohol and illegal drug use, being bullied, and sexually abused). Participants were
classified as having obesity (Y/N) per standardized percentiles. Logistic regression
was employed to examine the association between obesity and suicide attempt, ideation,
and plan, while adjusting for psychosocial covariates.
Results
The prevalence of suicide attempt, ideation, and plan was 8.90%, 18.75%, and 15.71%,
respectively. Obesity prevalence was 15.5%. The odds of suicide attempt, ideation,
and plan were 1.65 (1.30–2.11), 1.31 (0.89–1.61), and 1.27 (1.02–1.57), respectively,
among those with obesity versus without obesity.
Discussion
Obesity is significantly associated with a suicide attempt, ideation, and plan among
United States adolescents, even after adjusting for confounding psychosocial factors.
Further research on the temporality and causality of this association is needed.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 14, 2023
Accepted:
November 21,
2022
Received:
August 7,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofFootnotes
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
