Does Religiosity Predict Suicidal Behavior?

Abstract

Research was reviewed on whether self-report measures of religiosity were a protective factor against suicidal behaviors. It was found that scores on Francis's measure of religiosity was negatively associated with non-lethal suicidal behavior (ideation and attempts), a protective effect. Similarly, it was found that intrinsic religiosity (but not extrinsic religiosity) was negatively associated with non-lethal suicidal behaviors. However, these associations were weak. Research is needed on the issue whether counselors can use their patients' religiosity to reduce the risk of dying by suicide. Keywords: religiosity; suicidal ideation; attempted suicideThe association of religion and suicide has long been of interest. Durkheim (1897) noted and tried to explain the fact that Protestants have higher suicide rates than Roman Catholics, while it has long been known that Muslims have lower suicide rates than Christians (Lester 2006). There has been a great deal of research and theorizing about the role of religion, religiosity, and spirituality in increasing the risk of suicidal behavior versus acting as a protective factor for suicidal behavior. 1 In a meta-analysis of nine studies, Wu et al. (2015) found significant protective effects of religion (as measured by church/temple attendance or claiming/practicing a religion) on completed suicide. This effect was found to be stronger in studies conducted in Western cultures, in areas with high religious homogeneity, and among older populations. Sisask et al. (2010) also reported cross-cultural differences in the protective effects of three dimensions of religiosity (religious denomination, subjective religiosity, and organizational religiosity) for attempted suicide. The strongest protective effect across the different study sites, such as Brazil, Estonia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Sri Lanka, was found for subjective religiosity, that is, considering oneself to be a religious person, while the results for the more objective indicators of religiosity were mixed. The present chapter focuses on the association between religiosity and suicidal behavior in individuals. Since the research on this association involves self-report questionnaires, 2 the suicidal behavior is limited to suicidal ideation and, occasionally attempted suicide. Furthermore, we will focus more on our own research, but not to the exclusion of the research of others.

God Bless You? The Association of Religion and Spirituality with Reduction of Suicide Ideation and Length of Hospital Stay among Psychiatric Patients at Risk for Suicide

“…The mostly small overall effects for R&S replicate previous findings, where all reported associations with suicide ideation/behavior were smaller than r = −.23 (Lester, ), and the associations with depression were r = −.10 in a meta‐analysis (Smith, McCullough, & Poll, ). However, these associations were cross‐sectional and could also be replicated, at least among women, in the cross‐sectional analysis of our data (Kralovec et al., ).…”

“…Another limitation of existing research about R&S and suicide risk is that most studies did not account for the many aspects of R&S (Lawrence et al., ; Lester, ). R&S are multifaceted, multidimensional constructs and include, for example, affiliation to religion, religious practices (private or in public), making meaning, transcendence, religious experiences, or intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity.…”

Religious Coping, Hopelessness, and Suicide Ideation in Subjects with First-Episode Major Depression: An Exploratory Study in the Real World Clinical Practice

“…We can argue that intrinsic religiousness and PRC enhance personal resilience at several levels, thus reducing the severity of depression and the emergence of suicidal ideation and behaviors [79,82]. On the other hand, NRC is associated with the extrinsic religiousness (i.e., the use of religion for a variety of personal needs such as security, status, or social support) and this is considered as a potential risk factor for MDD, lower self-control, and suicide [83,84]. Extrinsic religiousness is also related to a lower psychological wellbeing, probably through a perceived negative attitude toward religion [85].…”

Religious Struggle and Life Satisfaction Among Adult Christians: Self-esteem as a Mediator

“…The religious dimension of life represents an important source of human strength, meaning, and coping for many people (Exline et al 2014a, b;Hill and Pargament 2003). It may contribute to comfort and security (Wilt et al 2016), be beneficial for mental (Rippentrop et al 2005;You et al 2019) and physical health (Rippentrop et al 2005;Tiggemann and Hage 2019), increase life satisfaction (Villani et al 2019), act as a protective factor against substance abuse (Isralowitz et al 2018;Van der Meer et al 2008), suicide (Gearing and Alonzo 2018;Lester 2017), and depression (Ronneberg et al 2016). For various people, religion is an important sphere that may affect other domains such as interpersonal relationships and the workplace (Exline 2013).…”