Rate and Associated Factors of Suicidal Behavior among Adolescents in Bangladesh and Indonesia: Global School‐Based Student Health Survey Data Analysis

Objective. Suicidal behavior among adolescents is a major public health problem that is understudied in South East Asian Muslim-majority countries. We aimed to investigate the rate and associated factors of suicidal behavior among adolescents in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Methods. The Global School-based Student Health Survey data of Bangladesh and Indonesia were used in this study. The data consist of a total of 9052 school-aged students from Bangladesh (2570, 28.4%) and Indonesia (6482, 71.6%). Suicidal behavior was assessed using three questions that measure suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and suicidal attempts. Results. The overall rate of suicidal behavior (suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and suicidal attempts) was 8.8%, and no significant difference between the two countries (8.9% in Bangladesh and 8.7 in Indonesia) was observed (p=0.81). Factors that independently increased the likelihood of suicidal behavior include female gender, missed class, physical fight four times or more, experienced bullying, anxiety, loneliness, rarely eating fruit, current alcohol use, and sedentary behavior (p