Spectrum and predictors of suicidal risk among incarcerated youth in a correctional facility in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria

• 40.1% of incarcerated youth demonstrated suicide risk, with 37.1% classified as low risk
• 2.3% had made recent suicide attempts and 8% had lifetime suicide attempts
• Absence of current depression, previous remands, older age, and having mothers in high-level jobs were protective against suicide risk
• 7.6% of participants had suicidal behaviour disorder
• 2.7% were assessed as likely to attempt suicide in the future

Limitations

This is a cross-sectional study with only male participants from a single facility, so findings may not be generalizable to female incarcerated youth or other regions. The study cannot establish causality or identify temporal relationships between risk factors and suicidal behaviour.

Abstract

Suicide is a primary emergency for mental health professionals, a major public health problem and the most common mode of death in prisons. Although juvenile crime rates appear to have fallen since the mid-1990s, this decrease has not reduced the concern particularly in the sub-Saharan Africa where the population is predominantly youth who are also increasingly prone to vices that may lead to incarceration. To determine the spectrum and predictors of suicide risk among incarcerated youth. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Borstal Training Institution in Kaduna, North-western Nigeria between March 2018 and June, 2018. We recorded the participants’ socio-demographic details using a data collection sheet while the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Questionnaire was used to assess all the categories of adverse childhood experiences. We used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview to assess for depression and suicidality in the participants. The 262 youth aged 18 years to 35 years were all males with mean age of 22.34 years (SD ±3.68). The prevalence of 40.1% (105) was obtained for suicide risk; majority were low risk (37.1%). Six (2.3%) participants had made suicidal attempts while 21 (8.0%) had lifetime attempt. Participants that were likely to make an attempt in the future were 2.7% (7) and twenty participants (7.6%) had suicidal behavior disorder. However, no current depression (OR = 3.248; P value = 0.021; 95% CI = 1.196–8.826), previous remands (OR = 0.523; P value = 0.043; 95% CI = 0.280–0.979), increasing age (OR = 1.099; P value = 0.020; 95% CI = 1.015–1.019) and having mothers with high-level jobs (OR = 0.417; P value = 0.002; 95% CI = 0.238–0.731) were the only predictors of suicide risk. Suicide risk is prevalent among incarcerated youth and proven suicide prevention strategies should be incorporated into their management.