Sociopsychological factors relating to suicide prevention in a Japanese rural community: coping behaviors and attitudes toward depression and suicidal ideation

Gender Differences Related to Attitudes Toward Suicide and Suicidal Behavior

This descriptive study examined gender differences related to attitudes toward suicide among randomly selected urban residents. Data was collected using a standardized questionnaire through face-to-face interview. Our findings revealed that men hold more pro preventive attitudes to help persons with suicidal thoughts (80.3 %, p = 0.05) and agreed that suicidal attempts are impulsive (78.6 %, p = 0.01). However, they hold permissive attitude to help persons with incurable diseases and expressing death wishes to die (66 %, p = 0.05). A majority of men (78.6 %) than women agreed that "suicidal attempt is essentially a cry for help" (χ (2) = 11.798, p = 0.05). These gender differences need to be taken into consideration when developing appropriate programs to prevent suicide. Further, decriminalizing the law, high-quality research and raising awareness about suicide prevention among the general population is crucial in developing countries like India.

Problem-Solving Coping and Social Support as Mediators of Academic Stress and Suicidal Ideation Among Malaysian and Indian Adolescents

This study examined whether productive coping styles and social support were significant mediators of the relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation. The survey was performed on a sample of 300 Malaysian and 300 Indian college students. The participants completed psychological assessments of productive coping styles, social support, academic stress, and suicidal ideation. Significant cultural and demographic differences emerged. Indian students reported higher suicidal ideation and academic stress than did Malaysian students, and Malaysian students received more social support and had better problem-solving coping styles than did Indian students. Overall, students who were male, non-religious, and from low-income families reported more academic stress and more suicidal ideation. Productive coping styles and overall social support strongly affected the relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation among both countries' participants.

Suicide proneness in American and Japanese college students: associations with suicide acceptability and emotional expressivity

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.

Utilization of bar and izakaya-pub establishments among middle-aged and elderly Japanese men to mitigate stress

Japanese suicide rate is one of the highest among industrialized nations, especially following the economic crisis of the 1990s, with more than 30000 suicides every year since 1998. Previous studies have pointed out to relationships between overwork and/or job stress, and death and other health risks, and suggested several possible avenues for releasing stress and emotional burden, including suicidal ideation, through talking with intimate friends, family, and specialists, such as counselors and physicians. The present study was performed to explore the potential role of owners and managers of bars and izakaya-pub establishments in mitigating stress of middle-aged and elderly Japanese men by having informal conversations with them. A self-administered questionnaire was posted to all bars and izakaya-pubs registered in Ohmura-city, Nagasaki prefecture, in December 2009. Among 260 bars and izakaya-pubs, a total of 103 owners and managers completed the questionnaire. More than half of the respondents experienced engaging in conversations with their customers regarding customers’ various personal and private issues. The most frequently talked about problem was that regarding work (56.3%). Regardless of sex and age of the respondents, those with longer working experience in bar and izakaya-pub establishments were more likely to have had customers confiding in them financial problems including debts/loans (adjusted odds ratio: 5.48, p = 0.033). Owners and managers of bars and izakaya-pubs may be in a position to act as “listeners”, to whom middle-aged and elderly men can talk about their personal problems casually and without having to worry about conflict of interests, and direct those in need to professional counseling.

Views on suicide among middle-aged and elderly populations in Japan: their association with demographic variables and feeling shame in seeking help

AIMS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between inappropriate views on suicide, such as it being a personal choice, inevitable, unpreventable, and permissible, with demographic variables and the feeling of shame in seeking help among the general population.

METHODS

A self-administered questionnaire on mental health and suicide was distributed to all residents aged 40-74 in four areas in Oita Prefecture, Japan, and 4487 responded. The association of seven inappropriate views on suicide with demographic variables was examined by multiple logistic analyses. The association between feeling shame in seeking help with demographic variables and the above views on suicide was similarly analyzed.

RESULTS

Inappropriate views on suicide were associated with gender (i.e. men). Some of these views also correlated with age, never having been married, and living in rural areas or areas with high suicide mortality rates. Multivariate analysis revealed that feeling shame in seeking help when distressed was associated with being aged 70-74, living in rural areas or areas with high suicide mortality rates, the view on suicide as a matter of self-choice, and a pessimistic view toward life.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that inappropriate views on suicide adversely affect coping strategies and mental health. Suicide prevention programs aimed at improving mental health literacy in a community should take into consideration the characteristics of elderly male residents.