Suicide Ideation Among College Students: A Multivariate Analysis

Abstract

Objectives-To develop a multi-dimensional model that might explain college suicide ideation.Methods-Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1,249 first-year college students.Results-An estimated 6% wt of first-year students at this university had current suicide ideation. Depressive symptoms, low social support, affective dysregulation, and father-child conflict were each independently associated with suicide ideation. Only 40% wt of individuals with suicide ideation were classified as depressed according to standard criteria. In the group who reported low levels of depressive symptoms, low social support and affective dysregulation were important predictors of suicide ideation. Alcohol use disorder was also independently associated with suicide ideation, while parental conflict was not.Conclusions-Results highlight potential targets for early intervention among college students.

Suicidal Ideation in University Students: Prevalence and Association With School and Gender

“…That is, of the group of SIS, one in every three students was male and two were females. Some research on the analysis of gender and suicidal ideation suggests that females reveal more suicidal thoughts than males (Arria et al, 2009;Borges & Werlang, 2006;Dervic et al, 2007;Gonçalves et al, 2014;Schaffer et al, 2008). The analysis of the distribution in our study seems to show the same.…”

“…These kind of thoughts tend to be more frequent in girls (Borges & Werlang, 2006), as well as suicide attempts, whether or not they are in college (Arria et al, 2009;Borges & Werlang, 2006;Dervic et al, 2007;Faria, Gandolfi, & Moura, 2014;Kirkcaldy, Eysenck, & Siefen, 2004;Rudatsikira, Muula, Siziya, & Twa-Twa, 2007;Schaffer, Jeglic, & Stanley, 2008). Borges and Werlang (2006) found that 67.6% of the suicidal ideators were females.…”

“…Suicidal thoughts seem to be a fundamental element in the suicidal process, known as a continuous and hierarchical succession of suicidal behaviors that gradually increase in severity in consequence of the interaction between internal and external factors (Runeson, Beskow, & Waern, 1996;Thompson, Dewa, & Phare, 2012), and are a major cause for suicide completion. This kind of thoughts tend to be common in university populations, as seen by the prevalences of 2.5% (Eisenberg, Gollust, Golberstein, & Hefner, 2007), 5.9% (Curran, Gawley, Casey, Gill, & Crumlish, 2009), 6% (Arria et al, 2009), and 11.1% (Garlow et al, 2008) in a four weeks analysis. When this observation is extended to 12 months, the results indicate prevalences of 13.7% and 14.3% (Fridner et al, 2009), 14% (Tyssen, Vaglum, Grønvold, & Ekeberg, 2001) or 11.3% and 12% (Eskin, Voracek, Stieger, & Altinyazar, 2011).…”

Recurrent suicidal ideation in young adults

“…However, the prevalence estimates of past-year SI (i.e., 7% and 9% at age 20 and 24 years respectively) are consistent with the 7.7% reported in a nationally representative sample of Canadian youth age 18-19 years, 31 and similar to the 6-13% in US reports of youth age 17-24 years. 13,32,33 …”

“…[7][8][9]12 Specifically, the developmental transition between adolescence and young adulthood represents a critical life period typically characterized by leaving the family home, joining the workforce, attending college or university, engaging in long-term relationships, and starting a new family. 13 In those with a psychosocial, psychological, and/or genetic predisposition to mental health problems, 8 these new social and environmental situations or stressors may lead to recurrent SI. Indeed, the frequency of SI is high during adolescence and young adulthood.…”