Gender commonalities and differences in risk and protective factors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A cross‐sectional study of Spanish university students

Abstract

Aim: To assess gender differences in the association between risk/protective factors and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB); and whether there is any genderinteraction with those factors and STB; among Spanish university students.Methods: Data from baseline online survey of UNIVERSAL project, a multicenter, observational study of first-year Spanish university students (18-24 years). We assessed STB; lifetime and 12-month negative life-events and family adversities; mental disorders; personal and community factors. Gender-specific regression models and gender-interactions were also analyzed. Results:We included 2,105 students, 55.4% women. Twelve-month prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) was 10%, plans 5.7%, attempts 0.6%. Statistically significant 05728; Generalitat de Catalunya, Grant/ Award Number: 20172017 gender-interactions were found for lifetime anxiety disorder, hopelessness, violence between parents, chronic health conditions and family support. Lifetime mood disorder was a common risk factor of SI for both genders (Females: OR= 5.5; 95%CI 3.3-9.3; Males: OR= 4.4; 95%CI 2.0-9.7). For females, exposure to violence between parents (OR= 3.5; 95%CI 1.7-7.2), anxiety disorder (OR= 2.7; 95%CI 1.6-4.6), and alcohol/substance disorder (OR= 2.1; 95%CI 1.1-4.3); and for males, physical childhood maltreatment (OR= 3.6; 95%CI 1.4-9.2), deceased parents (OR= 4.6; 95% CI 1.2-17.7), and hopelessness (OR= 7.7; 95%CI 2.8-21.2), increased SI risk. Family support (OR= 0.5; 95%CI 0.2-0.9) and peers/others support (OR= 0.4; 95%CI 0.2-0.8) were associated to a lower SI risk only among females.Conclusions: Only mood disorder was a common risk factor of SI for both genders, whereas important gender-differences were observed regarding the other factors assessed. The protective effect from family and peers/others support was observed only among females. Further research assessing underlying mechanisms and pathways of gender-differences is needed. K E Y W O R D Sanxiety/anxiety disorders, depression, gender, mood disorders, suicide/self-harm

Gender Differences Related to Spirituality, Coping Skills and Risk Factors of Suicide Attempt: A Cross-Sectional Study of French Adolescent Inpatients

“…In this context of severity, gender differences are more difficult to demonstrate compared to community samples. Furthermore, this result is in agreement with the recent study by Miranda-Mendizabal et al (52) which showed that mood disorders are the only risk factors for suicidal thoughts that are common to both sexes. We found differences in SA patterns that have been widely reported by other teams (4,5,25).…”

Prevalence of suicidal behavior in young university students: A systematic review with meta-analysis

“…Thus, 245 articles were selected for full-text reading, of which two were not available for access, resulting in 243 articles for full reading. After analyzing the eligibility criteria, 232 studies were excluded, resulting in 11 articles that comprised this review (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) . Figure 2 presents the flowchart corresponding to the results of the search, selection and inclusion of studies, as well as the reasons for the excluded studies.…”

“…Furthermore, two surveys did not report the percentage of participants who answered the research instruments (27)(28) .…”

“…The mean age was approximately 21 years old. The sampling methods used to select the participants were as follows: probabilistic sampling (random/stratified) (20,(23)(24)(25)(26)(28)(29)(30) or census (21)(22)27) . The most used instruments to assess suicidal behavior were the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview (SITBI) (22,25,27) and the Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire Revised (SBQ-R) (20,29) .…”

“…The sampling methods used to select the participants were as follows: probabilistic sampling (random/stratified) (20,(23)(24)(25)(26)(28)(29)(30) or census (21)(22)27) . The most used instruments to assess suicidal behavior were the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview (SITBI) (22,25,27) and the Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire Revised (SBQ-R) (20,29) . Regarding the prevalence of suicidal behavior, suicidal ideation varied from 9.7% to 58.3% (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) , and attempted suicide ranged from 0.7% to 14.7% (20,(22)(23)(24)(25)27,29) .…”