The association between suicide risk and self-esteem in Japanese university students with major depressive episodes of major depressive disorder

Abstract

BackgroundThe suicide risk among young adults is related to multiple factors; therefore, it is difficult to predict and prevent suicidal behavior.AimWe conducted the present study to reveal the most important factors relating to suicidal ideation in Japanese university students with major depressive episodes (MDEs) of major depressive disorder (MDD).MethodsThe subjects were 30 Japanese university students who had MDEs of MDD, and were aged between 18 and 26 years old. They were divided into two groups – without suicide risk group (n=15), and with suicide risk group (n=15) – based on the results of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Additionally, healthy controls were recruited from the same population (n=15). All subjects completed the self-assessment scales including the Beck Depression Inventory 2nd edition (BDI-II), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and SF-36v2™ (The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form health survey version 2), and they were all administered a battery of neuropsychological tests.ResultsThe RSES score of the suicide risk group was significantly lower than the RSES score of the without suicide risk group, whereas the BDI-II score and the BHS score were not significantly different between the two groups. The mean social functioning score on the SF-36v2 of the with suicide risk group was significantly lower than that of the without suicide risk group.ConclusionThe individual’s self-esteem and social functioning may play an important role in suicide risk among young adults with MDEs of MDD.

Handgrip strength is associated with suicidal thoughts in men: Cross‐sectional analyses from NHANES

“…42 Those with lower levels of selfesteem are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. 43,44 Lee found that poor relative handgrip strength defined by handgrip strength/BMI ratio was associated with an increased chance of suicidal thoughts among Korean women. 45 However, due to the paradox of obesity measured by BMI in the United States, the handgrip strength would be a good indicator of muscular and nutritional status among the US population.…”

Depression, sleeping pattern & suicidal ideation among medical students in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional pilot study

“…Depression is particularly reported as a key risk factor responsible behind suicidal ideation, which was also higher in our study. A longitudinal study conducted in Norway found that life satisfaction in medical students starts to drop at the beginning of their medical training and remain low until graduation (Mitsui et al 2014). In our study, low self-esteem among medical students was 11% which may have contributed to their increased suicidal ideation.…”

Low Chronic Self-Esteem and Low Situational Self-Esteem: a literature review

“…The contingency of self-esteem is related to its instability, by failing to comply with norms (9) . According to Mitsui (10) and Jang (12) , low self-esteem was also evaluated with a factor susceptible to suicidal ideation.…”

“…Effects of contingent self-esteem on depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior (LAKEY et al, 2014) (9) . The association between suicide risk and selfesteem in Japanese university students with major depressive episodes of major depressive disorder (MITSUI et al, 2014) (10) . The relationships among gratitude, self-esteem, depression, and suicidal ideation among undergraduate students (LIN, 2015a) (11) .…”