Suicide and Suicidal Behavior in Women

Prevalence, psychosocial correlates of youths’ suicidal behaviors and perspectives on the phenomena at Zagazig University: a mixed-methods study

Background

Suicidal behaviors are major public health concerns that affect large numbers of youth, leaving not only the youth but also their parents, family, friends, and peers in constant wailing. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, psychosocial correlates, and perspectives of youths’ suicidal behaviors. A concurrent mixed-methods descriptive study was used in carrying out this study. This study was conducted at Zagazig University, Al Sharkia Governorate. A stratified multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used to enroll 364 youths. Four tools were used to collect quantitative data. They were as follows: The Youth Profile Questionnaire, composed of two parts (socio-demographic data and youth characteristics), the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised Short Form (SPSI-R-SF), and the Short Version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF). For the qualitative part, focus group discussions were conducted to explore youths’ perspectives on the phenomenon of suicidal behaviors.

Results

Quantitative findings revealed that 25% of the youth participants had a significant risk for suicidal behaviors. Being female, in the first years of practical faculties and having no friends are significantly correlated with suicidal behaviors. Further, the quality of life had a statistically significant negative correlation with suicidal behaviors. Qualitative findings were discussed under one main category: youths’ perspectives about suicidal behaviors (pressure/escaping tool, seeking help/ending pain, attention-grabbing behavior, and stain for life).

Conclusions

According to this mixed-methods study, youths’ suicidal behaviors are prevalent multifaceted phenomena that certain factors have been correlated with. It is suggested that female sex, having no friends, and academic stressors are risk factors for suicidal behaviors. Also, the quality of life was introduced as a protective factor against suicidal behaviors. Therefore, it is recommended to implement prevention and management approaches to realize the complexity of the phenomena of suicidal behaviors among youth; these approaches target the youths themselves (mental health promotion and strategies for coping with stress) and the population (careful media coverage, limit access to suicidal methods, and raise the awareness about mental illness).

Women's suicide in low-, middle-, and high-income countries: Do laws discriminating against women matter?

BACKGROUND

Women's suicide is a serious public health issue in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This study explored whether institutional discrimination against women, as manifested in formal and informal laws, is relevant to country's income-level variability in women's suicide mortality. It also examined which discriminatory laws are associated with LMIC women's suicides.

METHODS

Scores on laws discriminating against women, across 176 countries, were obtained from the Gender, Institutions and Development Database. Male-to-female (M/F) 2017 suicide ratios were the index of women's propensity for suicide. The mediating role of laws discriminating against women on the association between country's income level and M/F suicide ratio was analysed by bootstrapping method. Regression analyses examined which discriminatory laws were associated with LMIC women's suicide rates.

RESULTS

LMIC had significantly smaller M/F suicide ratios than high-income countries. Institutional discrimination mediated the association between country's income-level and M/F suicide ratio (total effect: β = -0.13, 95% CI [ -0.26, -0.01]; direct effect: β = -0.06, 95% CI [ -0.20, 0.08]; indirect effect: β = -0.07, 95% CI [ -0.15, -0.02]). In LMIC, higher levels of discrimination against women in laws about access to productive and financial resources (β = -0.69, p < 0.001), civil liberties (β = -0.60, p < 0.001), and in family law (β = -0.57, p < 0.001) were associated with smaller M/F suicide ratios after controlling for male suicide rates and sex ratios at birth.

CONCLUSIONS

The relatively high suicide rates recorded among women in LMIC might be related to the higher level of institutional discrimination women experience in these countries. In LMIC, where, by law, women had restricted access to productive and financial assets and to justice, and/or unequal rights with regard to citizenship, household-responsibilities, divorce, and inheritance, M/F suicide ratios were lower-that is, women's suicide rates were higher. Suicide theory, research, and prevention targeting women should incorporate social-context and social-justice perspectives.