Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2022 May;57(5):1027-1038. doi: 10.1007/s00127-021-02203-9. Epub 2021 Nov 24.
Suicide in young adulthood is a vital public health concern. There have been few systematic studies that examined the prevalence and transition of suicidal ideation classes in young adults and the factors associated with the transition.
This two-wave survey recruited 1269 young adults (Mean age = 24.0 years, 70.1% males) in Hong Kong. The participants completed the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale, Chinese Health Questionnaire, and help-seeking behaviors in 2018 and 2019. Latent profile analysis was used to classify the participants into latent classes of suicidal ideation with substantive checking under the 3-step approach. Latent transition analysis with measurement invariance examined the transition among the latent classes from 2018 to 2019 and the associations with help-seeking behaviors and change in psychological distress.
Three latent classes of suicidal ideation were identified and over two-thirds of the participants belonged to the Low-risk class with minimal suicidal ideation. The prevalence of the High-risk class dropped from 10.2 to 7.2%, while that of the Moderate-risk class remained stable from 2018 to 2019. Increases in psychological distress predicted higher probabilities to remain at or transit into more risky classes. Engagement in help-seeking behaviors showed differential transitions in suicidal ideation across time.
The findings suggest three latent classes of suicidal ideation with distinct profiles among the young adults. Deterioration in psychological distress showed a temporal effect on worsening of suicidal ideation over a 1-year period. Future studies should elucidate the comparative effectiveness of help-seeking behaviors via online and offline channels.
青年期自杀是一个重要的公共卫生问题。很少有系统的研究来检查青年期自杀意念类别的流行率和转变，以及与转变相关的因素。
本项两波调查在香港招募了 1269 名青年（平均年龄 24.0 岁，70.1%为男性）。参与者在 2018 年和 2019 年完成了自杀意念属性量表、华人健康问卷和求助行为。潜在剖面分析用于根据三步法对有实质性检查的自杀意念参与者进行潜在类别分类。潜在转变分析和测量不变性检验了 2018 年至 2019 年期间潜在类别之间的转变，以及与求助行为和心理困扰变化的关联。
确定了三个自杀意念的潜在类别，超过三分之二的参与者属于低风险类别，自杀意念最小。高风险类别的患病率从 2018 年的 10.2%降至 2019 年的 7.2%，而中度风险类别的患病率则保持稳定。心理困扰的增加预测了保持或转变为更危险类别的更高概率。求助行为的参与表现出自杀意念在时间上的不同转变。
研究结果表明，青年期存在三种具有不同特征的自杀意念潜在类别。心理困扰的恶化在一年的时间里对自杀意念的恶化表现出时间效应。未来的研究应该阐明通过在线和离线渠道寻求帮助的行为的相对有效性。
