Adolescent Mental Health and the Choking Game.

Objectives: To examine the demographic and health risk factors associated with participation in the choking game (CG), a dangerous and potentially fatal strangulation activity in which pressure is applied to the carotid artery to temporarily limit blood flow and oxygen.

Methods: We obtained data from 2 cross-sectional studies realized respectively in 2009 and 2013 among French middle school students. The 2009 ( = 746) and 2013 ( = 1025) data sets were merged ( = 1771), and multivariate modeling was conducted to examine demographic and clinical characteristics of youth reporting a lifetime participation in the CG.