METHODS: This study comprises of three phases, namely (1) items selection phase, (2) pilot study phase, and (3) scale validation phase. During the first phase, the items were selected from items pools which gathered from previous suicide ideation/ attitude scales. Then the pilot study was carried out to examine the items for Yatt Suicide Attitude Scale (YSAS). Lastly, the Yatt Suicide Attitude Scale (YSAS) validation study was conducted with 219 university students.
RESULTS: Initial version of YSAS comprised 16 items and three components. After factor analysis, the questionnaire was reduced into only two components (Suicide Ideation and Suicide Attempt) with 5 items each. Both of the components obtained high reliability value (.89 and.86 respectively) and the questionnaire accounted for 67.84% of the total variance.
CONCLUSION: The analysis showed that YSAS has an acceptable reliability and validity for Malaysian population. Although these findings corroborate literature on development of suicide ideation assessment instrument for specific cultural context, there is a need to further examine its reliability with clinical population and general population of different cultural context in Malaysia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 320 students from urban and rural secondary schools. The participants were randomly selected via multi-stage sampling. They completed the Malay versions of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS).
RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 26.2%. On binary logistic regression analysis, variables with significant association with depressive symptoms were race (P = 0.028), type of class (P < 0.001), mother's education level (P = 0.036), type of housing (P = 0.036), parents' marital status (P = 0.012), alcohol intake (P = 0.005), stealing (P < 0.001) and history of disciplinary record (P = 0.005). Variables that remained significant on multivariable logistic regression were type of class (P = 0.004), parents' marital status (P = 0.017) and stealing (P < 0.001). Students from the Arts stream (OR, 2.43) with parents who were separated, divorced or widowed (OR, 3.13) and who had experience of stealing (OR, 3.27) were predicted to be at risk of developing depressive symptoms. There was a significant correlation between total CDI score and total BSS score (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms in adolescents was high. Depressive symptoms are significantly correlated with suicidal ideation. Greater collaboration between the education and health agencies is essential for mental health promotion in schools and early detection of depression, especially in at-risk adolescents.
PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to examine the social risk factors that drive older people to have suicidal feelings or tendencies and the extent to which these factors arise from the changes that occur in their social environment as a result of the process of modernization and industrialization.
METHODS: This study employed the phenomenological approach through qualitative data collection technique. A total of 20 informants comprising 10 males and 10 females of Malay, Chinese and Indian ethnicity were selected for the study using purposive sampling technique. In-depth interviews were conducted with the informants. Data were transcribed and subsequently analyzed thematically using the NVivo 11 software.
RESULTS: The findings revealed five conditions that led older people toward suicidal intentions. These include social and cultural changes, lack of social support, conflict in religious belief, influence of economic uncertainty and socio-economic status, and depression as a result of the changes in their social environment.
CONCLUSION: The implication of this research is that these factors affect older people directly as they struggle to adapt and respond to the major changes that occur in the social structure of the society they live in, stemming from the process of modernization and industrialization. Efforts to enact better policies and services for older people need to be addressed especially in developing countries based on assessment of their needs, weaknesses, strengths, and capabilities by incorporating elements of the worldview of the older people based on their experiences of daily lives.
METHODS: In the current study, 2074 students (706 males), filled out the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, with subscales of Search for Meaning (MLQ-S) and Presence of Meaning (MLQ-P); the Future Disposition Inventory-24 (FDI-24), with subscales of Positive Focus (PF), Suicide Orientation (SO), and Negative Focus (NF); and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). These scales measure protective and risk factors that are linked to suicidal behaviors; while suicidal behaviors were measured by the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R). Mediation analyses were performed to test the models with both the MLQ-S and MLQ-P as the mediators between a) hopelessness, as measured by BHS and suicidal behaviors; and b) PF, SO, and NF, as measured by FDI-24, and suicidal behaviors.
RESULTS: We found that only MLQ-P mediated the relation between hopelessness and suicidal behaviors; while both MLQ-P and MLQ-S mediated PF, SO, and NF (as measured by FDI-24), and suicidal behaviors, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Meaning in life, including both the presence of meaning in life and search for meaning, can be good protective factors against suicidal behaviors.
METHODS: 6,305 college students (39.3% men; 60.7% women) from six Chinese provincial-level jurisdictions completed a paper-and-pencil survey with Psychological Strain Scales (PSS-40) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), both validated in Chinese populations.
RESULTS: Both PSS-40 and DASS-21 have high internal consistency reliabilities, and are highly correlated with each other. Hence, Chinese college students with greater psychological strains (value, aspiration, deprivation, or coping) have greater depression, anxiety, and stress. These results still held after controlling for relevant socio-demographic variables in the multiple regression models.
LIMITATIONS: This was a cross-sectional study, and the sample only included several provinces in mainland China, not a representative sample of all of them.
CONCLUSIONS: Mood disorders and psychopathologies are linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The results of this study extend the Strain Theory of Suicide from explaining the risk factors of suicidality to mood disorders and psychopathologies. Hence, these findings can inform prevention measures among college students, and possibly the general population.
METHODS: Participants comprised 1912 college students (16-28 years old, 47.2% female) from three universities in Jilin Province, China, who completed the self-report assessments of psychological strains (40 items Psychological Strains Scale) and suicidal behaviors (Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised). The demographic characteristics included four variables: health status, psychological status, academic status and economic status.
RESULTS: Approximately 15.0% (286/1912) of participants were classified as having suicide risk, based on the cut-off scores of the SBQ-R. The prevalence of suicidal behaviors among males and females was 11.9% (120/1009) and 18.4% (166/903), respectively. Value strain (OR = 1.075, 95%CI: 1.057-1.094), aspiration strain (OR = 1.082, 95%CI: 1.064-1.101), deprivation strain (OR = 1.073, 95%CI: 1.052-1.093), and coping strain (OR = 1.095, 95%CI: 1.075-1.116) were risk factors for suicidality in college students. Coping strain (OR = 1.050, 95%CI: 1.023-1.077) was still positively associated with suicide risk in multivariate logistic regression. Logistic regression analysis indicated that coping strain had the highest correlation with suicidal behaviors.
LIMITATIONS: The directionality of the relationships cannot be deduced because this study is cross-sectional.
CONCLUSION: This study confirms a strong association between psychological strains and suicidal behaviors in college students. Some measures can be taken to reduce psychological strains to mitigate suicide risk among college students. More studies investigating coping strain among college students are warranted.
METHOD: A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. We used F and χ2 tests and correlation analyses to report descriptive statistics. Multi-group path models with (i) a zero-inflated Poisson distribution and, (ii) a Binomial distribution were used to model the number of occurrences of suicidal ideation, and occurrence of a suicide attempt, respectively.
RESULTS: Religiosity was negatively associated with acceptability of suicide, but it was positively related to punishment after death across the 11 countries. Religiosity was negatively associated with ever experiencing suicidal ideation, both directly and indirectly through its association with attitudes towards suicide, especially the belief in acceptability of suicide. Neither positive nor negative religious coping were related to suicidal ideation. However, religiosity was negatively related to suicide attempts among those who experienced suicidal ideation at least once. This association was mediated through the belief in acceptability of suicide and religious coping. Negative religious coping was positively associated with suicide attempts probably because it weakened the protective effects of religiosity.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study suggest that the effects of religiosity in the suicidal process operate through attitudes towards suicide. We therefore conclude that clinical assessment as well as research in suicidology may benefit from paying due attention to attitudes towards suicide.
METHODS: The sample consisted of 7427 college students (56% female) who reported to be affiliated with Islam. Data on self-construal, social support, negative life-events, acceptability of suicide, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts were collected with self-administered questionnaires.
RESULTS: Acceptability of suicide and the experience of negative life-events were positively, and perceived social support was negatively associated with suicidal ideation. Interdependent self-construal was negatively related to the acceptability of suicide and positively associated with perceived social support, implying a negative indirect effect on suicidal ideation although its direct effect was positive. The number of negative life-events was the strongest positive predictor of ever attempting suicide. The interdependent self-construal moderated the association of negative life-events with suicide attempts.
LIMITATIONS: Cross-sectional and self-report nature of the study were its major limitations. Participants may have suppressed their responses about suicide because of religious and legal reasons.
CONCLUSION: Remarkable similarities across 11 country samples emerged in the linkages between cultural and interpersonal factors with suicidality. Our findings highlight the value of a nuanced approach to suicidality, that can recognize the differences in the processes associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, as well as the need to consider the interplay of a broad range of personal, interpersonal, and cultural influences.