Suicidal Thoughts, Attempts and Motives Among University Students in 12 Muslim-Majority Countries
Suicidal Thoughts, Attempts and Motives Among University Students in 12 Muslim-Majority Countries
Date
2019-11-29
Authors
Eskin, Mehmet
AlBuhairan, Fadia
Rezaeian, Mohsen
Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed M.
Harlak, Hacer
El-Nayal, Mayssah
Asad, Nargis
Khan, Aqeel
Mechri, Anwar
Noor, Isa Multazam
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Science+Business Media
Abstract
There is a scarcity of research on suicidal phenomena in the Muslim world. Therefore, this
study aimed at investigating the self-reported prevalence of suicidal thoughts, attempts and
motives in 12 Muslim countries. A total of 8417 (54.4% women) university students were
surveyed by means of a self-report questionnaire. Overall, 22% of the participants reported
suicidal ideation and 8.6% reported attempting suicide. The odds of suicidal thoughts were
elevated in Azerbaijan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, while reduced ORs were recorded in
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Malaysia. While odds of suicide attempts were high in Azerbaijan,
Palestine and Saudi Arabia reduced odds ratios (OR) were detected in Indonesia, Iran,
Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia and Tunisia. Taking drugs and using a sharp instrument were the
two most frequently used methods to attempt suicide. Only 32.7% of attempts required
medical attention. Escape motives were endorsed more than social motives by participants
who attempted suicide. Suicidal behaviors were more frequent in women than in men.
Compered to men, fewer attempts by women required medical attention. Moreover, our results
show that making suicide illegal does not reduce the frequency of suicidal behavior. Results
from this comparative study show that suicidal thoughts and attempts are frequent events in
young adults in countries where religious scripture explicitly prohibit suicide and the frequencies
of nonfatal suicidal behavior show large variation in nations adhering to the same religion.
Description
Keywords
Suicide ideation, Suicide attempt, Suicidalmotives, Young adults, Muslim world
Citation
TY - JOUR AU - Eskin, Mehmet AU - AlBuhairan, Fadia AU - Rezaeian, Mohsen AU - Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed AU - Harlak, Hacer AU - El Nayal, Mayssah AU - Asad, Nargis AU - Khan, Aqeel AU - Mechri, Anwar AU - Noor, Isa AU - Hamdan, Motasem AU - Isayeva, Ulker AU - Khader, Yousef AU - Alsayyari, Alaa AU - Khader, Albaraa AU - Behzadi, Bahareh AU - Öztürk, Cennet AU - Hendarmin, Laifa AU - Khan, Murad AU - Khatib, Salam PY - 2018/11/29 SP - T1 - Suicidal Thoughts, Attempts and Motives Among University Students in 12 Muslim-Majority Countries DO - 10.1007/s11126-018-9613-4 JO - Psychiatric Quarterly ER -