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Table 1 Descriptive scores on demographic and outcome measures for the 2002 and 2008 samples and comparing boys versus girls

From: Suicide and related health risk behaviours among school learners in South Africa: results from the 2002 and 2008 national youth risk behaviour surveys

 

Total

Boys

Girls

Test statistic (boys vs. girls)

 

2002

2008

2002

2008

2002

2008

2002

2008

 

(N = 10549)

(N = 10097)

(N = 4929)

(N = 4949)

(N = 5620)

(N = 5148)

  

Outcome measure

Demographic variables

Age (M, SD)

15.98 (1.80)

16.08 (1.69)

16.20 (1.79)

16.25 (1.69)

15.79 (1.79)

15.89 (1.66)

t(10017) = 11.67**

t(9836) = 10.89**

Race (%)

      

χ2(df = 4, N = 10450) = 5.08

χ2(df = 4, N = 10050) = 15.42

Black

74.1

78.8

74.7

78.6

73.5

79.0

  

Coloured

15.0

14.3

14.4

13.7

15.6

14.9

  

Indian

1.3

0.8

1.4

0.9

1.2

0.8

  

White

8.7

5.2

8.4

6.1

8.8

4.4

  

Other

0.9

0.8

1.0

0.8

0.9

0.9

  

Province (%)

      

χ2(df = 8, N = 10549) = 25.59**

χ2(df = 8, N = 10097) = 21.24*

North West

11.3

9.4

12.5

9.4

10.2

9.5

  

Gauteng

11.0

12.4

10.9

12.8

11.1

11.9

  

Free State

10.7

9.4

11.1

9.2

10.4

9.6

  

Limpopo

9.5

9.5

9.7

9.4

9.4

9.7

  

Mpumalanga

11.9

11.5

12.2

11.6

11.7

11.3

  

Kwazulu-Natal

11.2

12.3

11.0

12.3

11.5

12.3

  

Eastern Cape

10.8

11.2

9.9

11.8

11.6

10.7

  

Northern Cape

10.0

12.5

9.8

13.0

10.3

12.1

  

Western Cape

13.5

11.8

13.0

10.5

14.0

13.0

  

School level (%)

      

χ2(df = 3, N = 10549) = 24.87**

χ2(df = 3, N = 10097) = 5.35

Grade 8

27.2

23.5

28.0

24.1

26.5

23.0

  

Grade 9

34.0

24.0

34.5

23.2

33.5

24.7

  

Grade 10

22.5

29.0

23.1

29.6

22.1

28.4

  

Grade 11

16.3

23.5

14.4

23.1

17.9

23.9

  

School performance (M, SD)

4.10 (1.36)

4.00 (1.40)

4.11 (1.35)

3.93 (1.40)

4.09 (1.36)

4.04 (1.40)

t(8875) = 0.37

t(8875) = −3.44**

Employment parents (%)

      

χ2(df = 2 N = 10392) = 1.23

χ2(df = 2 N = 9901) = 20.93**

-Father

        

 Unemployed

50.8

52.4

50.3

50.4

51.4

54.5

  

 Parttime

8.5

8.3

8.6

9.2

8.5

7.4

  

 Fulltime

40.6

39.3

41.1

40.5

40.2

38.1

  

-Mother

      

χ2(df = 2 N = 10420) = 10.32*

χ2(df = 2 N = 9962) = 4.65

 Unemployed

11.8

12.4

12.6

12.7

11.1

12.1

  

 Parttime

31.2

31.6

29.8

32.4

32.4

30.8

  

 Fulltime

57.0

56.0

57.6

54.9

56.6

57.1

  

Suicide

Suicide ideation (M, SD) Nationwide

.18 (.34)

.19 (.34)

.16 (.32)

.17 (.33)

.20 (.36)

.21 (.35)

t(10454) = 5.99**

t(10016) = 5.14**

North West

.15 (.32)

.17 (.33)

.13 (.29)

.16 (.33)

.17 (.34)

.18 (.33)

t(1175) = 2.54*

t(943) = 0.67

Gauteng

.20 (.35)

.19 (.33)

.16 (.31)

.17 (.31)

.23 (.37)

.20 (.35)

t(1149) = 3.32**

t(1245) = 1.64

Free State

.20 (.35)

.18 (.34)

.18 (.33)

.13 (.30)

.22 (.37)

.22 (.37)

t(1123) = 2.01

t(934) = 3.92**

Limpopo

.18 (.33)

.19 (.34)

.18 (.33)

.17 (.32)

.19 (.33)

.21 (.36)

t(995) = 0.08

t(953) = 1.92

Mpumalanga

.21 (.34)

.21 (.35)

.18 (.33)

.21 (.35)

.23 (.36)

.22 (.35)

t(1245) = 2.61*

t(1153) = 0.50

Kwazulu-Natal

.18 (.34)

.18 (.33)

.17 (.34)

.18 (.33)

.19 (.35)

.18 (.33)

t(1166) = 0.65

t(1230) = 0.12

Eastern Cape

.15 (.32)

.19 (.34)

.17 (.33)

.17 (.32)

.14 (.31)

.21 (.36)

t(1126) = 1.58

t(1112) = 1.85

Northern Cape

.19 (.35)

.21 (.37)

.15 (.32)

.20 (.34)

.22 (.37)

.20 (.34)

t(1048) = 2.98*

t(1253) = 0.26

Western Cape

.18 (.34)

.21 (.37)

.13 (.30)

.16 (.32)

.22 (.37)

.25 (.39)

t(1411) = 4.70**

t(1177) = 4.50**

Suicide attempt (%)

Nationwide

18.5

21.8

17.3

20.8

19.5

22.7

χ2(df = 1, N = 10498) = 8.37*

χ2(df = 1, N = 10028) = 5.54

North West

18.3

21.0

17.5

21.5

19.2

20.6

χ2(df = 1, N = 1182) = 0.57

χ2(df = 1, N = 947) = 0.11

Gauteng

16.5

21.5

13.8

20.9

18.8

22.1

χ2(df = 1, N = 1159) = 5.30*

χ2(df = 1, N = 1244) = 0.28

Free State

20.8

18.5

20.5

15.8

21.2

21.1

χ2(df = 1, N = 1128) = 0.08

χ2(df = 1, N = 944) = 4.34

Limpopo

20.3

21.7

19.7

20.7

20.9

22.6

χ2(df = 1, N = 999) = 0.24

χ2(df = 1, N = 953) = 0.50

Mpumalanga

22.9

24.4

20.4

22.5

25.1

26.3

χ2(df = 1, N = 1251) = 3.93

χ2(df = 1, N = 1156) = 2.28

Kwazulu-Natal

16.5

22.5

14.9

23.7

17.9

21.3

χ2(df = 1, N = 1180) = 1.89

χ2(df = 1, N = 1231) = 1.00

Eastern Cape

15.0

22.9

16.0

22.5

14.2

23.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 1123) = 0.70

χ2(df = 1, N = 1112) = 0.15

Northern Cape

18.2

21.5

16.8

20.0

19.3

23.0

χ2(df = 1, N = 1057) = 1.10

χ2(df = 1, N = 1256) = 1.66

Western Cape

17.8

21.4

16.0

18.4

19.2

23.6

χ2(df = 1, N = 1419) = 2.41

χ2(df = 1, N = 1185) = 4.70

Suicide hospitalization (%)

Nationwide

19.9

20.0

21.3

20.6

18.6

19.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 5511) = 6.38*

χ2(df = 1, N = 5069) = 1.12

North West

18.4

23.9

17.2

23.3

19.8

24.6

χ2(df = 1, N = 625) = 0.72

χ2(df = 1, N = 435) = 1.00

Gauteng

17.1

19.5

18.7

21.4

15.9

17.6

χ2(df = 1, N = 630) = 0.91

χ2(df = 1, N = 564) = 1.09

Free State

18.3

15.6

18.2

11.6

18.4

19.1

χ2(df = 1, N = 585) = 0.03

χ2(df = 1, N = 495) = 5.28

Limpopo

27.7

22.4

28.1

20.0

27.3

24.9

χ2(df = 1, N = 520) = 0.04

χ2(df = 1, N = 460) = 1.58

Mpumalanga

24.9

24.7

24.8

23.2

25.1

26.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 694) = 0.01

χ2(df = 1, N = 611) = 0.83

Kwazulu-Natal

21.1

21.1

21.5

26.3

20.8

15.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 516) = 0.04

χ2(df = 1, N = 626) = 11.18**

Eastern Cape

21.4

17.8

25.0

20.2

18.3

15.1

χ2(df = 1, N = 495) = 3.33

χ2(df = 1, N = 641) = 2.78

Northern Cape

17.2

18.8

19.0

19.7

15.7

17.8

χ2(df = 1, N = 598) = 1.09

χ2(df = 1, N = 605) = 0.33

Western Cape

15.7

20.0

21.2

18.1

11.0

17.2

χ2(df = 1, N = 848) = 16.61**

χ2(df = 1, N = 632) = 0.08

Psychological measures

Feeling hopeless (%)

32.5

32.5

31.6

32.6

33.4

32.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 8009) = 3.07

χ2(df = 1, N = 7447) = 0.03

Body dissatisfaction (M, SD)

2.80 (0.90)

2.71 (0.95)

2.65 (0.87)

2.57 (0.94)

2.93 (0.91)

2.85 (0.93)

t(8310) = 14.02**

t(7650) = 13.16**

Feeling unsafe (%)

36.1

34.5

36.9

32.9

35.4

33.7

χ2(df = 1, N = 10521) = 2.77

χ2(df = 1, N = 10073) = 2.92

Health risk behaviours

Violence (%)

Carry a weapon

21.3

17.8

33.1

26.5

11.0

9.5

χ2(df = 1, N = 10513) = 761.81**

χ2(df = 1, N = 10080) = 499.34**

Involvement physical fight

39.0

37.3

47.3

45.6

31.8

29.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 10522) = 263.69**

χ2(df = 1, N = 10073) = 282.76**

Violent behaviour victim

55.6

53.6

56.1

55.4

55.2

51.9

χ2(df = 1, N = 10538) = 0.81

χ2(df = 1, N = 10086) = 12.54***

Violent behaviour actor

30.6

35.1

37.0

41.7

25.0

28,8

χ2(df = 1, N = 10521) = 177.46**

χ2(df = 1, N = 10082) = 183.62**

Substance use (%)

Smoking

25.0

21.9

31.8

27.7

19.2

16.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 10398) = 219.02**

χ2(df = 1, N = 10009) = 188.04**

Alcohol

37.1

41.0

43.5

47.5

31.4

34.7

χ2(df = 1, N = 10541) = 163.07**

χ2(df = 1, N = 10047) = 170.62**

Marijuana

10.0

9.8

14.9

13.7

5.8

6.0

χ2(df = 1, N = 10471) = 242.30**

χ2(df = 1, N = 9966) = 166.72**

Illegal drugs

22.4

20.2

26.4

25.2

18.9

15.2

χ2(df = 1, N = 10460) = 85.13**

χ2(df = 1, N = 9540) = 146.83**

Unsafe sex (%)

64.0

55.1

64.3

57.0

63.5

52.4

χ2(df = 1, N = 4217) = .29

χ2(df = 1, N = 3813) = 7.962**

Unhealthy eating (M, SD)

3.22 (1.24)

3.22 (1.26)

3.20 (1.28)

3.23 (1.29)

3.24 (1.21)

3.21 (1.24)

t(10291) = 1.56

t(9618) = 0.59

Exercise (M, SD)

2.95 (2.20)

2.78 (2.21)

3.30 (2.22)

3.07 (2.25)

2.64 (2.13)

2.50 (2.12)

t(10477) = 15.47**

t(9918) = 12.85**

Unsafe driving

Seatbelt use (M, SD)

2.44 (1.34)

2.75 (1.47)

2.46 (1.31)

2.84 (1.42)

2.42 (1.37)

2.66 (1.51)

t(10513) = 1.46

t(10513) = 1.46

Drunk driving (%)

38.0

41.9

43.2

46.8

33.4

37.3

χ2(df = 1, N = 10495) = 107.04**

χ2(df = 1, N = 10084) = 93.62**

  1. *p < .01; **p < .001.
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