본 연구는 중학생의 자살생각 빈도에 영향을 미치는 요인을 확인하고자 시도되었다. 한국복지패널 13차년도(2018년) 아동부가조사 데이터를 활용하여 중학생 391명의 자료를 분석하였다. 영과잉 음이항(Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial) 회귀분석 결과, 여자 중학생, 1학년에 비해 3학년, 친구애착정도가 낮은 중학생일수록 자살 생각에 대한 빈도가 높았고, 현재 자살 생각이 없는 중학생의 경우라도 우울 및 불안의 정도와 부모 방임의 수준이 높아질수록 자살 생각의 가능성이 높아질 수 있음을 확인할 수 있었다. 본 연구 결과를 통해 확인된 위험요인을 토대로 중학생을 위한 다양한 수준에서의 맞춤형 자살예방 중재를 개발할 수 있을 것이다.
Background: Suicide among Korean middle school students is a growing social concern. Exploring factors associated with suicide ideation is important for suicide prevention in middle school adolescents. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors influencing frequency of suicidal ideation among middle-school students in Korea. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The participants were 391 middle school students and data were obtained from the 13th wave of Korean Welfare Panel Study in 2018. Zero-inflated Negative Binomial Regression model was employed to identify risk factors. Results: Among participants, 67.3% reported they did not have current suicidal ideation. By zeroinflated negative binomial regression analysis, gender, grade, and peer attachment were found to be significant predictors in the count model, and depression/anxiety and parental neglect were found to be significant predictors in the logistic model. These findings suggest that middle school adolescents who were female, 3rd grade students, or had lower peer attachment were associated with increased severity of suicidal ideation. Also, depression/anxiety and parental neglect were identified as risk factors affecting the future likelihood of suicidal ideation among middle school adolescents. Conclusions: Identified risk factors affecting severity and possibility of suicidal ideation may help health care providers to tailor effective suicide prevention interventions for middle school students.