Citation

Zupancic BB, Postuvan V, Marusic A. Psychiatr. Danub. 2006; 18(Suppl 1): 129.

Affiliation

Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. barbara.bernik@ivz-rs.si.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Facultas Universitatis Studiorum Zagrabiensis - Danube Symposion of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16964101

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictors that might influence foreigners' attitudes towards suicide after moving to Slovenia. Previous research has shown that people, who have been exposed to suicide and suicidal behavior, tend to hold more lenient and accepting attitudes toward suicide in general. Because Slovenia has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, we assumed that those foreigners, who have become highly integrated into Slovene society, might have more accepting attitudes toward suicide. We used the following questionnaires in the study: Attitudes toward suicide, Emotional Empathy Test, Scale of values, Community Stress and Problems, and Involvement in the Slovene community. The questionnaires were handed out to foreigners, who are members of a Slovene organization called SILA (Slovene International Ladies Association). We explored correlations between test and scale variables with attitudes toward suicide. Moreover, we also investigated the impact of other independent variables on attitudes, e.g. home country, other countries lived in, the amount of time spent living abroad, time living in Slovenia and extent of social involvement in Slovene society. Our results showed a slight difference in attitudes toward suicide between people living in Slovenia for a shorter time and those living in Slovenia a longer time; we can assume this is an effect of exposure to Slovene society. We also identified some predictors that influence attitudes toward suicide (e.g. values).

Language: en