Citation

Turvey C, Stromquist A, Kelly K, Zwerling CS, Merchant J. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 2002; 106(5): 373-380.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52240, USA. carolyn-turvey@uiowa.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12366472

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation in a community-based rural sample. METHOD: The sample was a random sample of people living in a single county in Iowa. Participants aged 18 or older (n=1617) were asked about suicidal ideation in the past year as well as mood, alcohol use, social support, and stressful life events. RESULTS: About 8.2% of the sample reported suicidal ideation. Depressive symptoms, problems resulting from alcohol use, infrequent social contact and financial loss characterized the suicidal group. CONCLUSION: Depressive symptoms were the strongest correlate of suicidal ideation in this rural sample. In the multivariate analysis, financial loss rather than low income remained a significant correlate of suicidal ideation after controlling for depression. This suggests that change in financial status rather than chronic poverty poses a risk for suicidal ideation.