The Association between Sexual Violence Victimization, Prescription Drug Misuse, Bullying Experience and Suicidal Behaviors in a National Sample of Adolescents

Suicide is a global public health concern. The interplay of the multiple risk factors (sexual violence victimization, prescription drug misuse, bullying experience) with adolescents' suicidal behaviors has not been studied extensively. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between sexual violence victimization, prescription drug misuse, bullying experience, and suicidal behaviors in adolescents in the United States, by using the 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data. The national YRBS, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides nationally representative data on adolescents from public and private schools. Students from 9th to 12th grade are included in the YRBS survey. In this study, 8266 usable questionnaires from the 2019 National YRBS were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze all pertinent demographic variables. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to detect the association between sexual violence victimization, prescription drug misuse, bullying, and suicidal attempts among adolescents. Regression analysis indicated a strong association between sexual abuse and suicide attempts. Moreover, the interactive impact of prescription drug misuse with sexual abuse experience is highly correlated with suicide attempts. However, the experience of cyberbullying along with prescription drug misuse decreases suicide attempts. Significant gender differences were also observed in regression analysis. [For the full proceedings, see ED652228.]