Suicide among Korean middle school students is a growing social concern. Exploring factors associated with suicide ideation is important for suicide prevention in middle school adolescents. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors influencing frequency of suicidal ideation among middle-school students in Korea.

The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The participants were 391 middle school students and data were obtained from the 13th wave of Korean Welfare Panel Study in 2018. Zero-inflated Negative Binomial Regression model was employed to identify risk factors.

Among participants, 67.3% reported they did not have current suicidal ideation. By zero- inflated negative binomial regression analysis, gender, grade, and peer attachment were found to be significant predictors in the count model, and depression/anxiety and parental neglect were found to be significant predictors in the logistic model. These findings suggest that middle school adolescents who were female, 3^rd grade students, or had lower peer attachment were associated with increased severity of suicidal ideation. Also, depression/anxiety and parental neglect were identified as risk factors affecting the future likelihood of suicidal ideation among middle school adolescents.

Identified risk factors affecting severity and possibility of suicidal ideation may help health care providers to tailor effective suicide prevention interventions for middle school students.