Ideación suicida y aspectos sociodemográficos en adolescentes colombianos

This study describes the characteristics of adolescents with suicidal ideation (SI) from Arauca and Villavicencio, two Colombian cities with a high suicide rate. The sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents with SI were studied to provide data that facilitate the development of specific interventions aimed at this population. A quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional approach was used. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the Positive and Negative Suicidal Ideation Scale (PANSI) by Osman et al. (1998), to 1372 students between 12 and 18 years old (M=14.57; SD=1.75), selected by non-probabilistic incidental sampling. The results indicated the association between religious belief and sex with IS. The adolescents who showed higher SI were those between 16 and 18 years old, non-believers or with beliefs other than Catholic or Evangelical/Adventist Christian, female, with older siblings, in a romantic relationship, and living only with siblings, grandparents, or alone with another person, and that in addition to studying they also work. It is concluded that these characteristics are aspects that should be considered in the design of specific and focused psychoeducational interventions aimed at reducing SI in adolescents in these two contexts.