Mental Health
Chronic Pain, School Absenteeism, and Suicidal Behaviors in a Nationally-Representative Sample of US Adolescents. Chloe Child* Chloe Child Child Appalachian State University
Youth suicidality is a critical public health issue, reflected by suicide being the third leading cause of death among 13-18 year olds in 2023. An increasingly studied factor that contributes to worsened mental health in youth populations is chronic pain status. National data suggest that chronic pain among youth is prevalent, having been reported by over 20% of US adolescents. An additional dimension of chronic pain that can contribute to decreased youth mental health is its impact on school absenteeism. The purpose of our study is to add to this body of literature by investigating the mediating role of school absenteeism in the relationship between chronic pain and youth suicidality. We used nationally representative data from Waves 1-2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health to determine if chronic pain prospectively increased the risk for suicide ideation and attempts, and if school absenteeism partially accounted for this association. Chronic pain was measured at Wave 1 across four separate pain sites including: joint, headache, body aches, and stomach pain. School absenteeism and suicide ideation and attempts were measured at Wave 2. Logistic regression models, controlling for gender and race, indicated that both the presence and extent of chronic pain significantly increased the likelihood of both missing school (p: 1.4e-07) and suicidality (p: 2.04e-07). As hypothesized, the frequency of missing school mediated (accounted for) the increased risk of suicidal behaviors due to chronic pain (Proportion Mediated CI: 1.29e-03, 0.04, p: 0.028) Results will suggest future research directions as well as implications for intervening with health care providers, parents, and school personnel to educate them about the potential ramifications of chronic pain among youth.