Psychological Strains Found From In-Depth Interviews With 105 Chinese Rural Youth Suicides

Abstract

Perspective-To investigate the role of different aspects of psychological strain in Chinese rural young suicides, so as to test the strain theory of suicide with the Chinese samples.Method-Psychological Autopsy (PA) was conducted on 105 suicides in rural China. The background and deep reasons for suicide were obtained from in-depth interviews with survivors and close friends. For each suicide, a story is composed out of the provided information, and the stories were content-analyzed with the SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys™.Results-Depression or other mental disorders were observed for less than half of the sampled suicides (42.9%). All suicides (100%) had experienced at least one type of the four strains: conflicting values, aspiration and reality, relative deprivation, and coping deficiency. While 24.9% of all suicides experienced only one type of strains, 36.2% for two strains, 32.4% for three, and only 6.7% of the suicides experienced all the four types of strains. Males are more likely than females to experience aspiration and deprivation strains, and the younger suicides (15-22 years of age) were more likely than the older suicides (23-29 years of age) to experience coping strain.

Marriage and Suicide among Chinese Rural Young Women

“…In traditional Chinese rural culture, marriage can be a familial binding more for a woman than for a man (Tu et al 1992). While the "excessive regulation" of marriage (Durkheim 1951) may increase suicide risk for these young women in rural China, another explanation of the unique finding could be the Strain Theory of Suicide (Zhang 2005;Zhang et al 2009;Zhang and Lester 2008).…”

Reliability, validity and preliminary hypothesis tests for the English version of the Psychological Strain Scales (PSS)

“…The theory has been tested and supported in a number of empirical studies (Yan et al, 2012; Zhang et al, 2009; Zhang & Lester, 2008; Zhang et al, 2011). However, the lack of standardized measurement and systematic testing of its reliability and validity limited the development of this theory.…”

“…The Strain Theory of Suicide and mental disorder is based on the theoretical frameworks of previous sociologists on criminal behaviors (Agnew & Kaufman, 2010; Durkheim, 1951; Merton, 1957; Zhang et al, 2009), and it was put forward several years ago as a theoretical framework predicting suicidal behaviors in Chinese populations (Zhang, 2005). The theory has been tested and supported in a number of empirical studies (Yan et al, 2012; Zhang et al, 2009; Zhang & Lester, 2008; Zhang et al, 2011).…”

“…The psychological strain theory has been tested and supported in a number of empirical studies (Zhang, Dong, Delprino, & Zhou, 2009; Zhang & Lester, 2008; Zhang et al, 2011). It emerged as an additional theoretical conceptualization to explain the unique patterns of Chinese rural young suicide (Zhang, 2005).…”

“…It emerged as an additional theoretical conceptualization to explain the unique patterns of Chinese rural young suicide (Zhang, 2005). The previous studies had indicated that psychological strain was significantly associated with suicide, and all suicides had experienced at least one type of the four strains (Hvistendahl, 2012; Zhang et al, 2009; Zhang et al, 2011). Negative emotions and mental disorders may be mediators between strain and suicide.…”