This study investigated the factors associated with suicidal ideation among 174 North Korean refugees (aged 13–27 years) residing in South Korea. Specifically, we compared sociodemographic, familial, social, and psychological characteristics between participants with and without suicidal ideation. Twenty-nine refugees (16.7%) had exhibited suicidal ideation in the past 12 months. These refugees had significantly lower levels of familial cohesion (U = 1459.0; p < 0.001), self-esteem (U = 1032.0; p < 0.001), and resilience (U = 1190.0; p < 0.001), as well as higher levels of expressional suppression (U = 1202.5; p < 0.001) and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (U = 1303.0; p = 0.001), (with Cohen’s d > 0.5), compared to those without suicidal ideation. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the level of emotional suppression and familial cohesion were significantly associated with suicidal ideation, after controlling for the other variables. Familial and individual interventions, particularly those focused on encouraging emotional expression and familial cohesion, will be useful for North Korean refugee youth, who have a high risk of suicide. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Adolescent Protective factor Risk factor Refugee

South Korea Republic of Korea refugee North Korean bereavement Democratic People's Republic of Korea psychological aspect demography human Refugees statistics and numerical data social aspect Health Surveys social support self esteem Young Adult social status Humans psychology Adolescent male female Socioeconomic Factors young population risk factor psychological rating scale juvenile Risk Factors socioeconomics adolescence North Korea self concept Psychiatric Status Rating Scales Resilience, Psychological Article psychological resilience adult emotionality posttraumatic stress disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic disease association Suicide suicidal ideation health survey