Body dissatisfaction as a predictor of self-reported suicide attempts in adolescents: a Spanish community prospective study.

PURPOSE

To examine whether body dissatisfaction at the age of 13 years predicted the risk for reported suicide attempts two years later, controlling the effects of pre-existing suicide ideation and attempts as well as numerous variables.

METHODS

A community-longitudinal study, with 1766 (887 female and 878 male) pupils aged 13 years from all the schools of a designated area, was performed. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and other self-reported questionnaires were administered. Suicidal thinking and suicide attempts were also evaluated.

RESULTS

Controlling the effect of gender and other possible predictive variables, previous suicidal thinking (odds ratio [OR] = 3.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.57-9.56) and scores on the BSQ (OR = 1.02, 95% CI 1.01-1.03) predicted reported suicide attempts in the next two years.

CONCLUSIONS

Programs improving one's own body-image esteem in adolescence might help to prevent not only eating disorders but other potentially dangerous consequences.