The Global-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) is a survey designed to measure and assess the behavioral risk factors and protective factors among young people aged 13 to 17 years old. The survey aims to obtain data on young people’s health behavior and protective factors related to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children and adults. The result of the survey provides policy makers with insights and tools necessary in creating more responsive health interventions.
The GSHS measured alcohol use, dietary behaviors, drug use, hygiene, mental health, physical activity, protective factors, tobacco use, HIV/AIDS related knowledge, and violence and unintentional injury. The survey was funded by the Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health with technical assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC).
Mental health
- Mental Health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional wellbeing.
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The most usual problems on mental health among adolescents include anxiety disorders,depression and other mood disorders, and behavioural and cognitive disorders.
12 in 100 students aged 13-15 years old seriously attempted suicide
- For ages 13-15 years old, 11.5% of the students had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months before the survey.
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Closely the same percentage of students who made a plan on how they would attempt suicide wth 11.1%.
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The percentage of students aged 13-15 years old who attempted suicide one or more times in the past 12 months was recorded at 17%.
Table 1. Percentage of Students Aged 13-15 Years Old Who Experienced a Vision of Suicide and Loneliness by Sex,
Philippines: 2015
More female students aged 13-15 years old experience a vision of suicide and loneliness
- There were more female students aged 13-15 years old who seriously considered attempting suicide with 13.6% compared to male students with 9.3%.The percentage of female students who made a plan about how they would attempt suicide was also higher compared to male students. Female students had a percentage of 12.5% compared to 9.5% of male students.
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More female students considered attempting suicide one or more times with 18.7% compared to male students with 15.1%.
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Female students were most likely to feel lonely in contrast to male students, with 19.4% for female students and 10.9% for males.
19 in 100 students aged 13-17 years old feel lonely most of the time
- The percentage of both male and female students aged 13-17 years who most of the time or always felt lonely was recorded at 19.4%.
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The percentage of students aged 13-17 years who attempted suicide one or more times was 16.8%.
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Those seriously considered attempting suicide was 11.6% and those that made a plan on how they would attempt it was 10.9%.
Figure 1. Percentage of Students Aged 13 - 17 Years Old Who Experienced
a Vision of Suicide and Loneliness, Philippines: 2015
More female students aged 13-17 years old consider suicide
- The percentage of female students aged 13-17 years old who considered attempting suicide one or more times was higher compared to their male counterpart with 18.5% in females and 15.0% in males.
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Female students aged 13-17 years old who seriously considered attempting suicide had a percentage of 13.9%, also higher than the male students with a percentage of 9.2%.
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Female students had a higher tendency to feel lonely most of the time compared to males with a percentage of 19.5% and male students with 17.6%.
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Students who made a plan about how they would attempt suicide was also lower for males compared to female students. As for male students, the percentage was 9.3% while female students was 12.3%.
Figure 2. Percentage of Students Aged 16-17 Years Old Who Experienced
a Vision of Suicide and Loneliness, Philippines: 2015
16 in 100 students aged 16-17 years old attempted suicide
- The percentage of students aged 16-17 years old who attempted suicide one or more times was 16.2%.
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Among the female student respondents aged 16-17 years old, 17.2% attempted suicide one or more times. While the male students of the same age group, 15.5% said they attempted the same.
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There was a higher percentage of female students aged 16-17 years old who seriously considered attempting suicide with 14.7% while their male counterparts was lower with 9.1%.
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The percentage students aged 16-17 years old who made a plan about how they would attempt suicide was 10.1% and higher percentage was noted among females than among males.
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Male students aged 16-17 years old had a lower tendency to feel lonely most of the time (15.5%) as compared to their female colleagues with 19.8% .
TECHNICAL NOTES
Adolescent is of a young person who is in the process of developing from a child into an adult.
Attempt is an act of trying to achieve something, typically one that is unsuccessful or not certain to succeed.
Plan is an intention or decision about what one is going to do
Suicide is the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally.
