Addictive-Like Behaviors Increase The Risk of Suicide Behaviors in Chinese Middle School Students: A Latent Class Analysis

Abstract

Background In adolescents, multiple addictive-like behaviors (ALBs) occur frequently together which are likely to be associated with suicide behaviors (SBs), increasing the risk of suicide. This study aimed to clarify the potential subgroups of ALBs in Chinese adolescents, and examine the associations between different patterns of ALBs and SBs. Methods A total of 22,628 middle school students were enrolled in this study. Self-reported ALBs and SBs were investigated by questionnaires. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed based on five ALBs [smoking, alcohol use (AU), diet pills use (DPU), screen time (ST), problematic mobile phone use (PMPU)]. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the associations between the different patterns of ALBs and SBs. Results Four subgroups of ALBs were identified by LCA, including high-risk class (smoking/AU/DPU/PMPU/ST), moderate-risk class 1 (DPU/PMPU), moderate risk class 2 (smoking/AU/ST), and low-risk class. Compared with the low-risk class, all of the moderate-risk class 1, moderate-risk class 2 and high-risk class had higher risks of suicide ideation, suicide plan, and suicide attempt. Conclusions These findings suggested that the patterns of ALBs were related to SBs in Chinese adolescents. Accordingly, considerations of different classes of ALBs may be essential for developing effective preventive programs.