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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major public health issue worldwide and multiple risk factors remain questioned. The present study aimed to explore the personal preference of belief in suicide as an individual's right (S-IR) and its associated demographics, psychopathology, and suicidality among community residents in Taiwan.
METHODS: A computer-assisted telephone interview system was applied to collect data from 10 consecutive annual surveys using a representative sample of the general population aged 15 and above from 2009 to 2020. S-IR was based on a single yes/no question. Suicidality in this study included suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempt (SA) in the lifetime and past year. The five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5) was used to measure the global severity of psychological distress.
RESULTS: In total, 24,122 participants completed the survey. The weighted prevalence of positive response to S-IR was 59% with predominance in ages of 15-34 and 65 and above. Since 2015, a sharp and steady increase to the top two in prevalence has been observed for ages of 15 -24 and 25-34. Overall, a positive response to S-IR was significantly associated with general psychological distress, SI, and SA in the lifetime and in the recent year. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that positive S-IR could significantly predict the higher odds of suicidality across different age groups (e.g., OR= 1.368 for SI and 1.625 for SA among ages of 15-24; OR=1.277 for SI and 1.576 for SA for ages of 25-34).
CONCLUSION: The positive response to S-IR had an age difference and was positively associated with suicidality and general psychological distress. Promoting mental health literacy and increasing awareness about suicidality to modify the myth of S-IR are important in suicide prevention.
Language: zh |