Nonmedical drug use and suicidal ideation among adolescents in the Republic of Korea: a population-based study
- 1Department of Biomedical Science and Multidisciplinary Genome Institute, Hallym University
- 2School of Nursing, Research Institute of Nursing Science, Hallym University
Abstract
Nonmedical drug use (NMU) among adolescents is an emerging public-health concern; however, population-based evidence on its association with suicidal ideation in the Republic of Korea remains limited. Using pooled data from the 2022–2024 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 158,829), we examined factors associated with lifetime NMU and its cross-sectional association with suicidal ideation during the previous 12 months using complex-samples logistic regression. A total of 2348 adolescents reported lifetime NMU (weighted prevalence, 1.6%; 95% CI 1.5–1.6%). Suicidal ideation was reported by 46.1% of adolescents with NMU and 12.8% of those without NMU. In fully adjusted models, NMU was associated with high perceived stress, higher GAD-7 total score, depressive symptoms, sexual intercourse experience, and alcohol blackout in the previous 30 days. After sequential adjustment for psychological distress and co-occurring health-risk behaviors, NMU remained associated with suicidal ideation (adjusted odds ratio = 2.55, 95% CI 2.27–2.87; P < 0.001). In the fully adjusted model, the adjusted predicted probability of suicidal ideation was 23.2% (95% CI 21.7%–24.7%) among adolescents with NMU and 13.1% (95% CI 12.9%–13.3%) among those without NMU, corresponding to an absolute difference of 10.1% points (95% CI 8.6–11.7). These findings indicate that lifetime NMU is associated with psychological distress, co-occurring health-risk behaviors, and suicidal ideation at the population level. Given the cross-sectional design and differing reference periods of the measures, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than evidence of temporal or causal relationships.
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BibTeX
@article{park2026nonmedical,
title = {{Nonmedical drug use and suicidal ideation among adolescents in the Republic of Korea: a population-based study}},
author = {Jong Kook Park and Jungmin Lee and Su Jung Lee},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-62341-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62341-5},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nonmedical drug use and suicidal ideation among adolescents in the Republic of Korea: a population-based study
AU - Jong Kook Park
AU - Jungmin Lee
AU - Su Jung Lee
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-62341-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62341-5
AB - Nonmedical drug use (NMU) among adolescents is an emerging public-health concern; however, population-based evidence on its association with suicidal ideation in the Republic of Korea remains limited. Using pooled data from the 2022–2024 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 158,829), we examined factors associated with lifetime NMU and its cross-sectional association with suicidal ideation during the previous 12 months using complex-samples logistic regression. A total of 2348 adolescents reported lifetime NMU (weighted prevalence, 1.6%; 95% CI 1.5–1.6%). Suicidal ideation was reported by 46.1% of adolescents with NMU and 12.8% of those without NMU. In fully adjusted models, NMU was associated with high perceived stress, higher GAD-7 total score, depressive symptoms, sexual intercourse experience, and alcohol blackout in the previous 30 days. After sequential adjustment for psychological distress and co-occurring health-risk behaviors, NMU remained associated with suicidal ideation (adjusted odds ratio = 2.55, 95% CI 2.27–2.87; P < 0.001). In the fully adjusted model, the adjusted predicted probability of suicidal ideation was 23.2% (95% CI 21.7%–24.7%) among adolescents with NMU and 13.1% (95% CI 12.9%–13.3%) among those without NMU, corresponding to an absolute difference of 10.1% points (95% CI 8.6–11.7). These findings indicate that lifetime NMU is associated with psychological distress, co-occurring health-risk behaviors, and suicidal ideation at the population level. Given the cross-sectional design and differing reference periods of the measures, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than evidence of temporal or causal relationships.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -