Suicide Proneness in American and Japanese College Students: Associations with Suicide Acceptability and Emotional Expressivity

Abstract

This study considered whether suicide acceptability and emotional expressivity were associated with suicide proneness in American and Japanese women and men. Participants included 417 (283 women, 134 men) American and 396 (243 women, 150 men) Japanese college students. Regression models indicated that suicide acceptability predicted unique variance in suicide proneness for both American and Japanese women and men. However, emotional expressivity contributed to understanding the suicide proneness of American college students only. Culturally appropriate prevention and intervention implications associated with reducing suicide acceptance and cultivating well-being and resiliency are offered.

Reliability and validity of a self‐report emotional expressivity measure: The Japanese version of the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire

“…This could be due to the measurement questionnaires used, which differed from those in the original studies, or perhaps even differences between Japanese and US cultures. The present authors' findings of slightly weaker correlations between the Japanese version of the BEQ and those other personality scales may be explained by the lower general expressivity observed in Japanese individuals compared with US (Saito et al ., ).…”

Food for Mood: Relevance of Nutritional Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Depression and Anxiety

“…Such a high rate of suicide has been associated to cultural factors (idealization of suicide, acceptability, etc.) including aging society ( Saito et al, 2013 ), divorce and unemployment ( Yamauchi et al, 2013 ). On the contrary, Western countries like New Zealand, Canada, United States, Germany, or France are part of the countries that consume less fish with high prevalence to develop depression.…”

Suicide: Dying for an Education

“…This can be seen in the fact that in Japan, suicide is the leading cause of death. Rates of suicide in that area sit at 13.7 per 100,000, in comparison to 7.5 in the U.S. (Saito, Klibert, & Langhinrichsen-Rohling, 2013). The social acceptance of suicide may have something to do with these higher rates.…”