Cultural, psychosocial and sociodemographic determinants of self-harm and suicidal behavior in Sami and Greenlandic adolescents;

Suicidal behaviour and self-harm are major health problems among adolescents. Rates of self- harm are high in adolescence and suicide is the second most common cause of death after accidental death in young people worldwide. Indigenous and Arctic populations are in a disadvantaged position particularly when it comes to suicidal behaviour, but with great variety between communities and peoples. The knowledge about self-harm among Arctic and Indigenous adolescents is sparse in spite of this being a frequent problem among young people. The aim of the study is to study self-harm and suicidal behaviour and their cultural, sociodemographic and psychosocial determinants in two Arctic adolescent populations; the Sami and the Greenlandic Inuit. Due to close collaboration, the Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study (NAAHS) and the Well- being among Youth in Greenland (WBYG) have similar questions in the two surveys of same aged adolescents, which make comparisons possible. From Greenland, 378 students aged 15-16 years old are compared to 450 Sami students at the same age. The study intend to contribute to the understanding of suicidal behaviour and self-harm among indigenous adolescents and in particular in the Arctic and for a better understanding of these behaviours. A stronger focus for preventive programs, particular with an Indigenous and Arctic aspects, is highly needed. Findings so far show that suicidal behaviour among Sami and Greenlandic youth is associated with the relationship to parents, suicide among friends, rural living and female gender. As Suicidal behaviour among Sami is also related to stepparents presence, living outside the family occurs as a risk for suicidal behaviour among Greenlandic peers. In Greenlandic youth suicidal behaviour was also connected to their school performance. Further, we found that Sami and Greenlandic adolescents who had experienced violence, sexual abuse or parental alcohol abuse, were more likely to report suicidal thoughts or attempts. When including only Sami adolescents in investigating discrimination and cultural identity, we found that Sami females with low score on identity exploration more often reported suicide attempts, and Sami males who had experienced discrimiation or with a high score on identity commitment more often reported suicide attempts. The findings is so far disseminated in scientific journal and will be further disseminated in the NUNAMED conference in 2022 in Greenland, in media, social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will in addition to ordinary media such as news papers, broadcasting and magazines for youth and parents be used. The publishing will be in Sami/Greenlandic, Norwegian/Danish and English languages.

Forebygging - Resultatene våre viser at det er et behov for å ivareta samiske og grønlandske ungdommer som har opplevd alvorlige livshendelser slik som vold, overgrep og diskriminering for å nevne noen. Disse ungdommene er en gruppe med forhøyet risiko for selvmordsforsøk. De som jobber i primærhelsetjenesten, skole og andre voksne rundt barn med slike opplevelser, kan være ekstra oppmerksomme på selvmordsatferd hos urfolksungdom og spørre om dette. På denne måten kan flere ungdommer oppdages og få hjelp med selvmordstanker eller etter et selvmordsforsøk. Folkehelse - Det er viktig med et folkehelse og samfunnsperspektiv ved selvmordsforebygging. Diskriminering er ikke et problem som er kun på individnivå, det handler om større strukturer i samfunnet. Det å jobbe med å redusere overgrep og diskriminering på samfunnsnivå vil bidra til bedre livskvalitet og helse for unge samiske og grønlandske gutter og jenter. Dermed også virke selvmordsforebyggende. For de som jobber med selvmordsforebygging på politisk nivå, vil økt kunnskap gjennom forskning kunne bidra til å lettere få godkjent søknader om økte midler til forebyggende tiltak for eksempel. Poster som ble presentert på konferanse i Grønland, med resultater fra studien vår, skal være med en prosjektgruppe rundt i alle deler av Grønland, slik at kunnskapen fra forskningen blir tilgjengelig for hele landets innbyggere. Samarbeid mellom forskere i Arktis bidrar til et større forskningsnettverk og styrker utveksling av kunnskap om og erfaring fra selvmordsforebygging blant urfolksungdom. Formidling av kunnskap fra forskning kan også bidra til å avkrefte myter, sette søkelys på diskriminering av urfolk og de effektene som kolonisering har hatt og fortsatt har på mennesker og samfunn i dag.

Suicidal behavior and self-harm are major health problems among adolescents. Rates of self-harm are high in teenage years and suicide is the second most common cause of death after accidental death in young people worldwide. Indigenous and Arctic populations are in a disadvantaged position particularly when it comes to suicidal behavior, but with great variety. The knowledge about self-harm among Arctic and Indigenous adolescents is sparse in spite of this being a frequent mental health problem among young people in general. The aim of the study is to study self-harm and suicidal behavior and their cultural, sociodemographic and psychosocial determinants in two Arctic adolescent populations; the Sami and the Greenlandics. In collaboration the Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study and the Well- being among Youth in Greenland have similar questions in the surveys among adolescent groups, which have made comparisons possible. From Greenland, 378 students aged 15-16 years old are compared to 450 Sami students at the same age. The study will contribute to the understanding of suicidal behavior and self-harm among indigenous adolescents and in particular in the Arctic. Cultural, psychosocial and sociodemographic determinants will be investigated with the intention to better plan for preventive programs for this type of behavior. The findings will be disseminated in media, lectures, conferences and scientific papers.