SUICIDAL IDEATION AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENT IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study determined suicidal ideation among in-school adolescent in Enugu state, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was used to execute the study. One research question was posed while two hypotheses that were postulated to guide the study were tested at .05 level of significance. The population for the study was 148,028 in-school adolescents in public secondary schools owned by Enugu State Government. The sample for the study was 2112 in-school adolescents selected through multistage sampling procedure. An 18-item structured In-School Adolescents’ Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (I-SASIQ) was utilized to generate data for the study. The I-SASIQ was validated by experts and its reliability index of .80 was determined using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and its internal consistency of .70 was established using Cronbach’s Alpha. Mean and standard deviation were utilized to answer the research question whereas z-Test was used to test the hypotheses. Findings showed that suicidal ideation was low (=1.17; SD=.54) among in-school adolescents in Enugu state. z-Test indicated that location (z-Test cal.=11.78; df=1798; p-value=.04) and gender (z-Test cal.=14.17;df=1798;p-val= .04 ) made statistically significant difference on suicidal ideation among the respondents. Based on the results, it was recommended among other things that suicide education should be introduced in the schools to reduce further the extent of suicidal ideation among the in-school adolescents in Enugu state.