Objectives@#
Adolescent suicide is a serious
social problem.
Adolescent alcohol use is one of the most important
risk factors for
adolescent suicide. This study aimed to identify the relationship between
drinking habits and
suicide among Korean
adolescents. @*
Methods@#Data from the 14th and 15th Korean
Youth Risk Behavior Web-based
Survey, conducted in 2018 and 2019, were used for
analysis. Multiple
logistic regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between
drinking habits—including the age of
drinking initiation, frequency of
drinking, average
drinking amount, frequency of
drunkenness—and
suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts. @*Results@#Even after adjusting for age,
sex,
school grade,
academic achievement,
socioeconomic status,
depression, stress, and
drinking habits, the frequencies of
drinking and
drunkenness increased the
risk of
suicide attempts.
Suicide attempts were associated with the frequency of
drinking in
girls and middle
school students, and with the frequency of
drunkenness in
boys and
high school students. @*Conclusion@#This study identified
associations between
drinking habits (the age of
drinking initiation, frequency of
drinking, average amount of
drinking, frequency of
drunkenness) and suicidal
behavior in
adolescents. Our findings suggest that to prevent
adolescent suicide, it might be necessary to investigate
drinking habits, including the frequencies of
drinking and
drunkenness. Moreover, considering the differences in
sex and
school grade, it is important to include the individual group characteristics when evaluating
drinking habits.