A study published in Frontiers in Public Health (2021) investigated the prevalence of lifestyle behaviors and suicide-related behaviors and the association between them using a nationally representative sample of adolescents from the USA.
13,677 high school students aged 14-18 years were included in this cross-sectional study. The research data were retrieved from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Survey in 2019.
Students who played video/computer games for ≥2 h had higher risk of suicide attempt. Daily sleep duration of ≤8 h was positively associated with considering a suicide attempt. In addition, participants who did not engage in any sport team were more likely to report considering a suicide attempt.
This research suggests that some lifestyle behaviors (e.g., time for video or computer use, sleep duration, sports team participation, regular breakfast intake, and substance use) are associated with increased risk of suicidal behavior and ideation in high school students.
The authors concluded that the study findings indicate the potential importance of lifestyle behaviors for prevention of suicide and the need to raise public health awareness on promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors of adolescents.
These results also support providing American adolescents with potentially cost-effective programs that integrate the prevention of substance use with the promotion of health-promoting behaviors like sleep and sports participation to enhance their mental as well as physical well-being.
View the entire research publication: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.766972/full