Effect of Family Function on Suicide-Related Behaviors of Junior Middle School Students: The Mediating Effect of Depression

  Objective  To examine the prevalence of suicide-related behaviors among junior middle school students, and to explore the mediating role of depression in the relationship between suicide-related behaviors and family function.

  Methods  A total of 2572 junior middle school students from three middle schools in Chengdu were interviewed face-to-face by using suicide-related items from Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), Chinese Family Assessment Instrument (C-FAI), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC). The mediating role of depression was analyzed with structural equation model.

  Results  The prevalence of suicide-related behaviors was 26.01% among the respondents. The prevalence of suicide ideation, suicide plan and suicide attempt were 24.38%, 13.49% and 10.77%, respectively. Depression played a partial mediating role in how family function impacted on suicide-related behaviors, presenting a direct effect value of 0.170 (95% CI: 0.117-0.218, P<0.001) and an indirect effect value of 0.205 (95% CI: 0.176-0.234, P<0.001), with the mediating effect accounting for 54.67% of the total effect.

  Conclusion  Poor family function may increase the risk of suicide-related behaviors, and this effect is produced mostly through the impact on children's mental health. Improving family function will not only improve children's psychological status, but also reduce suicide-related behaviors.