Suicide in adolescents with depression: the need for early diagnosis

Suicide ideation and psychotropic recreational drug use by adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Adolescence is characterized by complex and dynamic changes, often involving experimentation, including the use of psychotropic substances. Although it is well-established that recreational psychotropic drugs are associated with suicide ideation in adults, evidence of this association in adolescents remains limited.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between suicide ideation and psychotropic recreational drug use among adolescents.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Systematic review with meta-analysis developed at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU) and Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil.

METHODS

A search across eight electronic databases for observational studies, without language or publication year restrictions, was conducted. The Joanna Briggs Institute tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Random-effects meta-analyses and odds ratios were used to measure the effects.

RESULTS

The search yielded 19,732 studies, of which 78 were included in the qualitative synthesis and 32 in the meta-analysis. The findings indicated that suicidal ideation was 1.96 times more likely (95% confidence interval, CI = 1.47; 2.61) for adolescents who used some drug recurrently and 3.32 times more likely (95%CI = 1.86; 5.93) among those who abused drugs. Additionally, adolescents who used cannabis were 1.57 times more likely (95%CI = 1.34; 1.84) to experience suicide ideation compared with non-users, while cocaine users had 2.57 times higher odds (95%CI = 1.47; 4.50).

CONCLUSIONS

Psychotropic recreational drug use is associated with suicidal ideation among adolescents regardless of current or previous use, abuse, or type of substance used.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

Registered in the PROSPERO database under the identification number CRD42021232360. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021232360.

Suicide mortality among youth in southern Brazil: a spatiotemporal evaluation of socioeconomic vulnerability

Objective:

To conduct a geospatial analysis of suicide deaths among young people in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil, and evaluate their association with socioeconomic and spatial determinants.

Methods:

Data were obtained from the Mortality Information System and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Data on suicide mortality rates (SMR) were extracted for three age groups (15-19, 20-24, and 25-29 years) from two 5-year periods (1998-2002 and 2008-2012). Geospatial data were analyzed through exploratory spatial data analysis. We applied Bayesian networks algorithms to explore the network structure of the socioeconomic predictors of SMR.

Results:

We observed spatial dependency in SMR in both periods, revealing geospatial clusters of high SMR. Our results show that socioeconomic deprivation at the municipality level was an important determinant of suicide in the youth population in Paraná, and significantly influenced the formation of high-risk SMR clusters.

Conclusion:

While youth suicide is multifactorial, there are predictable geospatial and sociodemographic factors associated with high SMR among municipalities in Paraná. Suicide among youth aged 15-29 occurs in geographic clusters which are associated with socioeconomic deprivation. Rural settings with poor infrastructure and development also correlate with increased SMR clusters.