Suicidal feelings interfere with help-seeking in bullied adolescents [corrected]

Yuko Kitagawa; Shinji Shimodera; Fumiharu Togo; Yuji Okazaki; Atsushi Nishida; Tsukasa Sasaki

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106031

Suicidal feelings interfere with help-seeking in bullied adolescents [corrected]

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 4;9(9):e106031. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106031. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Yuko Kitagawa¹, Shinji Shimodera², Fumiharu Togo³, Yuji Okazaki⁴, Atsushi Nishida⁵, Tsukasa Sasaki³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Education, Graduate School of Education, University of Tokyo, Tokyo; Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan.
² Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan.
³ Department of Health Education, Graduate School of Education, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Purpose: Being bullied is associated with the manifestation of suicidal feelings, which sharply increase in middle(-late) adolescence. Whether or not bullied middle(-late) adolescents with suicidal feelings seek help is therefore a critical issue, given that help-seeking plays a key role in the prevention of suicide. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of bullying, suicidal feelings and the interaction between these two factors on help-seeking behavior in adolescents.

Methods: Japanese middle(-late) adolescents (aged 15-18 years; n = 9484) were studied using self-report questionnaires. The rate of adolescents who actually sought help was examined for bullying status and suicidal feelings.

Results: The rate of adolescents who sought help was significantly higher when they were bullied (p<0.001) and also when they had mild suicidal feelings (p<0.001), but not when they displayed serious suicidal feelings. In the case of adolescents who were bullied, however, having suicidal feelings significantly decreased the rate of help-seeking (OR = 0.47, p<0.05 and OR = 0.32, p = 0.002 for having mild and serious suicidal feelings, respectively). The decrease was remarkable when suicidal feelings were serious. Specifically, the decrease was significant in seeking help from peers and family members, who are the most frequent source of the help for adolescents, when they had serious suicidal feelings (OR = 0.21, p<0.01 and OR = 0.13, p<0.001, respectively).

Conclusions: Suicidal feelings may interfere with help-seeking behavior, which could be critical in suicide prevention in bullied middle(-late) adolescents.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Bullying / psychology*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Japan
Male
Patient Acceptance of Health Care / psychology*
Psychology, Adolescent
Stress, Psychological
Suicidal Ideation*
Suicide / psychology
Suicide Prevention
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan Scientific Research Grant (#H19-kokoro-ippan-012), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan Scientific Research Grant on Innovative Area (23118004; Adolescent Mind & Self-Regulation), the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Scientific Research Grant (Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation), the Research Group for Schizophrenia in Japan (Award for Research Excellence 2011 to A. N.) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science Project Grant (Kokoronokenko H21-H26), and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 2612170. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.