Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Discipline

Juvenile Justice

Abstract

Suicide is considered a significant public health issue, identified as the second leading cause of early mortality in the United States among adolescents (CDC, 2023). The National Institute of Mental Health (2023) defined it as “death induced by self-directed destructive behavior with intent to die” (p. 4). For youth aged 10-14 suicide increased by 36% from 2000 to 2021 in the United States. In recent decades, suicide among adolescents has increased despite estimates of stable or dropping suicide rates in developed countries. Every year, 703,000 youth worldwide commit suicide, and many more attempt (WHO, 2022).

This study used a nationally representative sample of adolescents from the 2021 High School Youth Risk Behavior surveys. Data were examined with a General Strain theoretical framework utilizing logistic regression, and linear regression to understand the impact of empirical risk factors, physical, dating, sexual victimization, bullying, and cyberbullying on youth mental health issues, physical well-being that includes exercises and workouts, and suicidality among high school students. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 into 2021), youth experiences of physical and sexual violence/victimization may have increased, given their isolation. While dating violence increased, it is not clear how this impacted suicides. Youth likely experienced more cyberbullying, given their increased interactions online.

This study revealed significant relationships between various forms of victimization, that is physical, sexual, dating violence, bullying, and cyberbullying, and the mental health and physical well-being of high school students, which in turn influenced their risk of suicidality. The regression analyses highlighted that these forms of victimization were predictors of increased mental health issues, which were directly linked to higher suicidality rates among adolescents. The findings are consistent with the literature, as victimization indicators are expected to be related to mental health issues and physical wellness. Sexual victimization was more impactful than physical victimization and dating victimization on mental health and cyberbullying was more impactful than more traditional bullying on mental health. Relatedly mental health issues significantly affected high school students' physical wellness. This study's results offer empirical details that should be informative for policymakers in prioritizing their efforts to reduce youth health risk and victimization.

Keywords: suicidality, victimization, mental health issues, physical wellness, adolescents.

Committee Chair/Advisor

Camille Gibson

Committee Member

Myrna Cintron

Committee Member

Ling Wu

Committee Member

Gbolahan Solomon Osho

Publisher

Prairie View A&M University

Rights

© 2021 Prairie View A & M University

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Date of Digitization

6/18/2024

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

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