Suicidal Behavior and Psychological Distress in University Students: A 12-Nation Study. Archives of Suicide Research

This study investigated the prevalence of suicidal behavior and psychological distress in university students across 12 nations. A total of 5572 university students from 12 countries were surveyed about suicide ideation, suicide attempts and psychological distress by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Almost 29% of the samples reported having contemplated suicide and 7% reported attempting suicide. Of the total sample, 51.1% scored above the General Health Questionnaire-12 ≥ 3 cut-off point, 41.6% above the GHQ-12 ≥ 4 cut-off point, and 33.8% scored above the GHQ-12 ≥ 5 cut-off point. While odds of suicide ideation were elevated in Austria and the UK, reduced ORs were detected for China, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Turkey. Similarly, while odds of suicide attempt were high in Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and to some extent in Turkey, reduced ORs were observed for Austria, China, Italy, Japan and the USA. Elevated ORs for psychological distress were seen in Japan, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey but reduced ORs were noted in Austria, China, Iran, Italy and the USA. Psychological distress was strongly associated with reports of suicide ideation and attempts. Suicide ideation, suicide attempt and psychological distress are common in university students but their rates vary depending on the sociocultural context. Due attention should be devoted to the mental health needs of young adults enrolled in higher educational institutions and more cross-cultural research is warranted to better understand the etiology of the observed intersocietal variations in suicidal behavior and psychological distress

The Role of Religion on Suicidal Behavior, Attitudes and Psychological Distress in University Students: A Multinational Study

The purpose of this study was to determine the association of religion to suicidal behavior, attitudes and psychological distress in 5572 students from 12 countries by means of a self-report questionnaire. Our results showed that an affiliation with Islam was associated with reduced risk for suicide ideation, however affiliating with Orthodox Christianity and no religion was related to increased risk for suicide ideation. While affiliating with Buddhism, Catholic religion and no religion associated with lowered risk for attempting suicide, affiliation with Islam was related to heightened risk for attempting suicide. Affiliation with Hinduism, Orthodox Christianity, Protestantism, Catholicism, other religions and with no religion was associated with decreased risk for psychological distress but those reported affiliating with Islam evinced greater risk for psychological distress. The associations of the strength of religious belief to suicidal ideation and attempts were in the expected direction for most but it had a positive relation in respondents affiliating with Catholicism and other religions. Students reporting affiliation with Islam, Orthodox religion and Buddhism were the least accepting of suicide but they displayed a more confronting interpersonal style to an imagined peer with a suicidal decision. It was concluded that the protective function of religion in educated segments of populations (university students) and in university students residing in Muslim countries where freedom from religion is restricted or religion is normative and/or compulsory is likely to be limited. Our findings suggest that public policies supporting religious freedom may augment the protective function of religion against suicide and psychological distress

Cross - national comparisons of attitudes towards suicide and suicidal persons in university students from 12 countries

This paper reports the results of a comparative investigation of attitudes to suicide and suicidal persons in 5,572 university students from 12 countries. Participants filled out two scales measuring attitudes towards suicide and suicidal persons, a measure of psychological distress together with the questions about suicidal behavior. Results showed that the highest suicide acceptance scores were observed in Austrian, UK, Japanese and Saudi Arabian samples and the lowest scores were noted in Tunisian, Turkish, Iranian and Palestinian samples. While the highest social acceptance scores for a suicidal friend were noted in Turkish, US, Italian and Tunisian samples, the lowest scores were seen in Japanese, Saudi Arabian, Palestinian and Jordanian samples. Compared to participants with a suicidal past, those who were never suicidal displayed more internal barriers against suicidal behavior. Men were more accepting of suicide than women but women were more willing to help an imagined suicidal peer. Participants with accepting attitudes towards suicide but rejecting attitudes towards suicidal persons reported more suicidal behavior and psychological distress, and were more often from high suicide rate countries and samples than their counterparts. They are considered to be caught in a fatal trap in which most predominant feelings of suicidality such as hopelessness or helplessness are likely to occur. We conclude that in some societies such as Japan and Saudi Arabia it might be difficult for suicidal individuals to activate and make use of social support systems

Is Individualism Suicidogenic? Findings From a Multinational Study of Young Adults From 12 Countries

The associations of individualistic versus collectivistic value orientations with suicidal ideation and attempts, attitudes towards suicide and towards suicidal individuals, and psychological distress were investigated across 12 nations (N = 5572 university students). We expected differential associations of value orientations with suicidal behavior and moderating effects of the prevailing value orientations in the various countries. Findings showed that intermediate levels of individualism appeared protective against suicide attempts across all investigated nations, but that, otherwise, there seemingly are no universal associations of individualism and collectivism with suicidal behaviors. High collectivism was associated with less suicidal ideation only in individualistic countries. Low individualism appeared to be a risk factor for suicidal ideation specifically in Muslim collectivistic cultures, whereas high individualism in Asian collectivistic cultures. Collectivistic values are uniformly associated with less permissive attitudes to suicide, whereas individualistic values with a more stigmatized view of suicidal behavior. Both individualistic and collectivistic values were associated with socially accepting attitudes to a suicidal peer, helping a suicidal friend, and emotional involvement. The associations of individualistic and collectivistic values with disapproving attitudes to suicidal disclosure were complex. Beliefs in punishment after death for suicide, seeing suicide as mental illness, and emotional involvement with a suicidal friend were lower in high-suicide-rate countries. These evidence patterns are discussed in the light of related research evidence, along with directions for future research in this area

Is Individualism Suicidogenic? Findings From a Multinational Study of Young Adults From 12 Countries

The associations of individualistic versus collectivistic value orientations with suicidal ideation and attempts, attitudes towards suicide and towards suicidal individuals, and psychological distress were investigated across 12 nations (N = 5572 university students). We expected differential associations of value orientations with suicidal behavior and moderating effects of the prevailing value orientations in the various countries. Findings showed that intermediate levels of individualism appeared protective against suicide attempts across all investigated nations, but that, otherwise, there seemingly are no universal associations of individualism and collectivism with suicidal behaviors. High collectivism was associated with less suicidal ideation only in individualistic countries. Low individualism appeared to be a risk factor for suicidal ideation specifically in Muslim collectivistic cultures, whereas high individualism in Asian collectivistic cultures. Collectivistic values are uniformly associated with less permissive attitudes to suicide, whereas individualistic values with a more stigmatized view of suicidal behavior. Both individualistic and collectivistic values were associated with socially accepting attitudes to a suicidal peer, helping a suicidal friend, and emotional involvement. The associations of individualistic and collectivistic values with disapproving attitudes to suicidal disclosure were complex. Beliefs in punishment after death for suicide, seeing suicide as mental illness, and emotional involvement with a suicidal friend were lower in high-suicide-rate countries. These evidence patterns are discussed in the light of related research evidence, along with directions for future research in this area

PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology and sociology are two separate but closely related social science disciplines. Psychology is currently defined as “the scientific investigation of mental processes (thinking, remembering, feeling, etc.) and behavior.” Psychologists study the subjects such as sensation, perception, learning, memory, thinking, consciousness, motivation, emotion, development, personality, stress, and mental health. They use various research methods ranging from surveys to experiments. Sociology is generally defined as “the study of human societies. It comprises the scientific study of human life, social groups, whole societies and the human world as such.” The topics studied in sociology are in a very large spectrum. Socialization, social groups, and organizations, social deviance, crime, social classes, social stratification, gender, race and ethnicity, family, politics, education, religion, media, urbanization, and health are some of these topics. On the other hand, social psychology is closely related to both psychology and sociology while it was generally thought as a subdiscipline of psychology. Most of the social psychologists adopted Allport’s definition that the attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. Several topics such as social influence, social cognition, social perception and attributions, attitudes and attitude change, self, aggression, prosocial behavior, interpersonal attraction, group dynamics, prejudice, and intergroup conflicts are studied by social psychology researchers using experimenting and surveying methodologies. At first sight, it seems that it is difficult to make a distinction between social psychology and two others as there are similarities in their subjects. However, social psychology’s emphasis is on the social interactions, that is, social influence. The social-psychological concepts and theories are used to explain the effects of “the other” on the individual. Besides, various methods which social psychologists use and levels of analysis distinguish social psychology from psychology and sociology. In this chapter, the area of social psychology is addressed by making comparisons between three areas in their subject areas: Levels of analysis; main problems the discipline is focused on; and perspectives, methodology, and interpretation of the results. © 2022 Dogan Gursoy and Sedat Çelik

Cultural and interpersonal risk factors for suicide ideation and suicide attempts among muslim college students from 11 nations

Background: Research on suicidality in low to middle-income countries is scarce. We addressed this issue by investigating suicidality in a cross-national college student samples from 11 predominantly low to middle-income majority Muslim countries. 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