Predictive factors of substance misuse and abuse in South Korean adolescents: A secondary data analysis of the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey

Purpose This study aimed to identify the general characteristics and health behaviors of students with non-therapeutic substance use. Methods This secondary data analysis used data from the 17th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2021). Analyses of the 54,848 adolescents used descriptive statistics, the Rao–Scott χ2 test, and logistic regression. Results The risk factors for substance […]

Patterns of follow-up mental health care after hospitalization for suicide-related behaviors among older adults in South Korea

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with receiving follow-up mental healthcare within 7 days and 30 days after hospitalization for suicide-related behaviors (SRB) among  older adults in South Korea. Methods: Data from the Korean National Health Information Database were used, including information on sociodemographic variables and healthcare utilization. The […]

Characteristics and risk factors of suicide among people who attempted self-harm in South Korea: A longitudinal National Cohort Study in South Korea

Although self-harm is known as a significant risk factor for suicide, there are insufficient studies on the characteristics of people who self-harmed and the factors affecting suicide using a national dataset in Asia. This study aimed to identify demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic factors of individuals who attempted self-harm concerning suicide mortality. By analyzing the Korean […]

A protective role of urban greenspace on the association between night-time heat and suicide in Seoul, South Korea

Suicide, a leading cause of death among the youth, has shown a positive association with high temperatures. However, few studies have explored the association between tropical nights and suicide and the potential role of greenness on this association. We investigated the association between suicide and two hot night indices: hot night duration (HNd) and hot […]

Mental health of South Korean adolescents in the COVID‑19 Era: Web‑based survey focused on suicide‑related factors

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively impacted many aspects of life. Measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 (e.g., school lockdowns, remote and hybrid classes, group and outdoor activity restrictions, and social distancing in the classroom and meal time) could have led to adolescents to experience anxiety and depressive symptoms. Such mental […]

Association of driving while intoxicated and suicide ideation and attempts in South Korea: A study in a nationally representative sample

Evidence indicating driving as a means for suicide has been consistently reported. However, there have been few reported studies examining the association between driving while intoxicated (DWI) and suicide. We aimed to investigate the associations between DWI and suicide ideation and suicide attempts taking into account the frequency and amount of alcohol consumption. This cross-sectional […]

National trends in sadness, suicidality, and COVID-19 pandemic-related risk factors among South Korean adolescents from 2005 to 2021

Importance  Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on daily life, limited research exists on the prevalence and risk factors of suicidality and sadness among South Korean adolescents. Objectives  To examine whether the observed sadness and suicidality in the early to middle periods of the COVID-19 pandemic differed from the expected level and to investigate changes in risk factors […]

The dynamic relationship between social capital and suicide rates

Background: Suicide is an important public health concern worldwide. Among various factors, social capital has been suggested to be an effective factor to prevent and reduce suicide. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between social capital and suicide rates in Seoul, South Korea, using panel data from 2005 to 2018 at the administrative-district […]

Increased suicide risk of psychiatric patients following the recent utilization of health care services: Results from a nationwide cohort study in South Korea

Purpose: This study aimed to examine whether and to what degree the suicide risk of psychiatric patients is associated with psychiatric and non-psychiatric health service utilization. Methods: We selected incident psychiatric patients, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorder, depressive disorders, other affective disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder patients, in 2007–2010 and followed them up until 2017 […]

Association between internet searches related to suicide/self-harm and adolescent suicide death in South Korea in 2016-2020: Secondary data analysis

Background: Previous studies have investigated the association between suicide and internet search volumes of terms related to suicide or self-harm. However, the results varied by people’s age, period, and country, and no study has exclusively investigated suicide or self-harm rates among adolescents. Objective: This study aims to determine the association between the internet search volumes […]

Gender differences in suicide rates of municipalities in South Korea: A latent profile analysis by life cycles

Background: South Korea showed the highest suicide rate among the countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Aims: This study aimed to discern the profiles of municipalities according to their suicide rates across the life cycle and gender, and then to identify the unique characteristics of each latent group. Method: This study applied a latent profile modeling to […]

Single and combined effects of marital status, education attainment, and employment status on suicide among working-age population: A case-control study in South Korea

Background Suicide in the working-age population is an important public health issue. This group is heterogeneous regarding marital status, education level, and employment status, which are generally important socioeconomic factors for suicide, and has a wide age range. This study aims to explore the individual and combined effect of these socioeconomic factors on suicide in different age […]

Excess suicide attributable to the COVID‑19 pandemic and social disparities in South Korea

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on suicide remains unclear and might differ according to individuals’ socioeconomic characteristics. We aimed to investigate excess suicide attributable to COVID-19 in South Korea, stratified by the outbreak period and individual characteristics. We obtained daily time-series suicide mortality data for January 2017–December 2020 from the Korea National Statistics Office and […]

Psychological autopsy study comparing suicide decedents with and without a history of suicide attempts in a nationwide sample of South Korea

The majority of suicide decedents die on their initial attempt. To bring attention to suicide decedents without a suicide attempt history, the current study explored their demographic, clinical, and suicide-related characteristics. The data were derived from the Korea National Investigation of Suicide Victims Study, which assessed all suicide cases from 2013 to 2017 recorded in […]

Comparing warning signs of suicide between suicide decedents with depression and those non-diagnosed psychiatric disorders

Objective Early recognition of a high-risk group impending suicide is important. We aimed to compare warning signs depending on the nature of the psychiatric disorder and whether it was a documented diagnosis. Methods Data of suicide decedents were collected from police records from 2013 to 2017. We evaluate psychiatric symptoms and warning signs in three […]

Suicide rate and social environment characteristics in South Korea: The roles of socioeconomic, demographic, urbanicity, general health behaviors, and other environmental factors on suicide rate

Background Suicide is a serious worldwide public health concern, and South Korea has shown the highest suicide rate among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries since 2003. Nevertheless, most previous Korean studies on suicide had limitations in investigating various social environment factors using long-term nationwide data. Thus, this study examined how various social […]

Comparison of South Korean men and women admitted to emergency departments after attempting suicide: A retrospective study

Background: Suicide is a major health concern, especially in South Korea. The probability of dying by suicide and the fatality rate differ between men and women. The present study compared the suicide characteristics of women and men and analyzed the choice of suicide methods. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed patients who visited the emergency department after […]

Association of the type of counselor with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts: A survey of South Korean adolescents

Background Counseling for adolescents who consider or attempt suicide may help reduce suicide rates. However, the impact of the type of counselor (e.g., father, mother, sibling, friend, teacher, other) on suicidal ideation/suicide attempts remains unclear. Therefore, we examined this association in Korean adolescents. Methods Using data from the 2015 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey […]

Need to establish a new adolescent suicide prevention programme in South Korea

Adolescent suicide is the leading cause of death among South Korean (Korean) youth. Despite great efforts being made towards suicide prevention in Korea, the suicide rate has not decreased significantly. There is an urgent need for a new adolescent suicide prevention strategy. This paper describes the seriousness of the issue of adolescent suicide in Korea, […]

Examining whether South Korean and Japanese views of suicide and death help to better understand their contrasting suicide patterns

Based on two independent surveys of South Korean (n=1,599) and Japanese adults (n=1,490) views of suicide and death this analysis found South Koreans more stress-prone and more accepting of suicide than the Japanese, patterns convergent with their overall differences in societal suicide rates. Multiple regression analysis findings suggested that a substantial proportion of the variations […]

Zolpidem use and suicide death in South Korea: A population-based case-control study

Objective To investigate whether zolpidem use is associated with suicide death in adults. Method We conducted a case–control study using the National Health Insurance Service‐National Sample Cohort (NHIS‐NSC) database. Cases were adults with a suicide record (ICD‐10 codes; X‐60‐X84, Y87.0) between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2013. 10 Controls were matched to each case […]

Adolescent suicide in South Korea: Risk factors and proposed multi-dimensional solution

South Korea has ranked first in suicide mortality among the 35 OECD nations since 2003. Unfortunately, mental health research and evidence-based interventions to curb the rate of suicide have been limited. Suicide is the leading cause of death among South Korean adolescents. Academic stress is a primary risk factor, which is highly correlated with depression. […]

A comparison of attitudes toward suicide among individuals with and without suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in South Korea

Background: A suicidal person can go through different stages that include suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. For a few individuals, these can end up with suicide. However, there have been no studies investigating any differences in attitudes toward suicides among individuals with no suicidal thoughts, those with suicidal thoughts, and those with suicide attempts. Aims: This study was […]