scholarly journals Suicidal behaviors among Bangladeshi university students: Prevalence and risk factors

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262006
Author(s):  
M. Rasheduzzaman ◽  
Firoj al-Mamun ◽  
Ismail Hosen ◽  
Tahmina Akter ◽  
Moazzem Hossain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
University Students ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Suicidal Behaviors ◽  
Family Mental Health ◽  
Academic Study

Background Bangladeshi university students are considered to be highly suicide-prone compared to other populations and cohorts. However, no prior epidemiological studies have assessed the suicidality (i.e., past-year suicidal ideation [SI], lifetime suicide plan [SP], and lifetime suicide attempt [SA]) among Bangladeshi students, including the variables such as past-year stressful life events and family mental health history. This is arguably a major knowledge gap in the country. Therefore, the present study investigated the prevalence and associated risk factors for suicidal behaviors among Bangladeshi university students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted utilizing a convenience sampling method among a total of 1844 university students between October and November 2019. Data were collected based on the information related to socio-demographics, perceived health-related questions, past-year stressful life events, family mental health history, and suicidal behaviors (i.e., SI, SP, and SA). Chi-square tests and binary logistic regressions were used to analyze the data utilizing SPSS statistical software. Results The prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation, lifetime suicide plans, and suicide attempts were 13.4%, 6.0%, and 4.4%, respectively. Females reported significantly higher suicidal behavior than males (i.e., 20.6% vs.10.2% SI; 9% vs. 4.6% SP; and 6.4% vs.3.6% SA). Risk factors for SI were being female, year of academic study, residing in an urban area, using psychoactive substances, experiencing both past year physical and mental illness, experiencing any type of stressful past-year life events, experiencing campus ragging (i.e., senior students abusing, humiliating and/or harassing freshers or more junior students), experiencing family mental illness history, and having family suicide attempt history. SP was associated with several factors including being female, year of academic study, using psychoactive substance, experiencing both past-year physical and mental illness, and experiencing any type of stressful past-year life events. Risk factors for SA were being female, year of academic study, using psychoactive substances, experiencing past-year mental illness, experiencing any type of stressful past-year life events, and having family suicide attempt history. Conclusions University students appear to be a vulnerable group for experiencing suicidal behaviors. The present findings warrant rigorous action and early intervention programs such as counseling and other mental health professional services by university authorities. Longitudinal studies are highly recommended involving countrywide representative samples.

Suicide in the U.S. army: stressor-strain hypothesis among deployed and nondeployed Army National Guard soldiers

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
National Guard ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Suicidal Behaviors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Military

Purpose – Study samples, having responded to similar survey content, allowed examination of suicide risk factors for deployed soldiers relative to nondeployed or home station soldiers. Specific research questions addressed by this study are: First, what is the prevalence of suicidal behaviors among Army National Guard (ARNG) soldiers – deployed or not, and how do these rates compare with known US national and international rates? Second, what are stressful life events associated with suicidal risk? How do these compare between deployed and nondeployed soldiers? Third, what specifically about combat exposure makes soldiers at risk for suicide? And fourth, is there any evidence of stress-buffering effect between risk factors and suicidal behaviors? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Three data sources were used. First, the responding sample for the Unit Risk Inventory consisted of 180 company-sized units with a total of 12,567 responding soldiers. Second, the responding sample for the Unit Risk Inventory-Reintegration consisted of 50 company-sized units with a total of 4,567 soldiers. The third data source was all ARNG suicides for calendar years 2007 through 2012. For each calendar year, a random sample of 1,000 ARNG soldiers was drawn to represent nonsuicides. This resulted in a study sample size of 6,523, including the 523 suicides for the years 2007 through 2012 plus 1,000 nonsuicide cases for each calendar year. Findings – Prevalence of suicidal behaviors among soldiers was higher (for thoughts, plans, and attempts, respectively, 4-6, 1.3-2.2, and 0.7-0.08 percent) than among civilian populations (respectively, 2.6, 0.7, and 0.4 percent). Risk was highest among home station than deployed soldiers. Stressful life events associated with suicide risk included personal feelings of loneliness, anger, and frustration, followed by interpersonal behavioral problems, such as aggressive behavior toward a significant other and having committed a crime. Also evident are the beneficial effects (as a main effect and buffering effect) of feelings of cohesiveness, quality leaderships, and job satisfaction on suicidal behaviors. Research limitations/implications – Findings here were consistent with the stressor-strain hypothesis. Stressful life events were associated with suicide risk, especially, personal feelings of loneliness, anger, and frustration, followed by interpersonal behavioral problems, such as aggressive behavior toward a significant other and having committed a crime. Evident, too, were the beneficial effects of feelings of cohesiveness, quality leaderships, and job satisfaction on suicidal behaviors. Soldiers reporting these events were less likely to report suicidal behaviors and social support lessened the cumulative effect of risk factors on suicidal behaviors. Given these findings, it seems that suicide risk in the military is not uniquely different from that observed in civilian populations. The higher prevalence of suicides in the military likely has to do with proportionally more individuals who have historically shown to be at risk for suicide, namely, young males. Practical implications – Strong association of individual-level attributes with suicidal behaviors, such as age, gender, and race, suggest individual-level vulnerability to suicidal behaviors. This expectation is consistent with the stress/suicide vulnerability theory (Bryan, 2014; Nock et al., 2013). Such vulnerabilities may include negative affectivity (one of the Big Five personality dimensions) and early childhood trauma to suicidal behaviors (Griffith, 2012a, 2014). Social implications – Suicide, related constructs, and their underlying processes need to be further examined in future research. Their understanding would be useful in screening individuals most at risk for suicidal behaviors, with referral and treatment, if needed. Practically, such vulnerabilities in relation to what specific experiences could be determined, potentially describing which individuals are suited best to adapt to which environments. Originality/value – There has been much research on the increased suicides in the military, and to date, studies have focussed primarily on traumatic events, such as, deployments and combat exposure associated with suicidal behaviors. Yet, studies have almost exclusively examined the combat-suicide connection without reference to suicide risk factors among nondeployed or home station soldiers. This study fills this gap by examining survey responses to standardized questionnaires administered to ARNG soldiers during calendar year 2010 – one sample of deployed units either to Iraq or to Afghanistan and another sample of nondeployed or home station units.

scholarly journals Assessing the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nontraditional Students’ Mental Health and Well-Being

2021 ◽  
pp. 074171362110275
Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Babb ◽  
Katrina A. Rufino ◽  
Ruth M. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
Nontraditional Students ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Sleep Disturbances ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Nontraditional Student ◽  
Life Stressors ◽  
Health And Well Being

The current study sought to measure how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health and well-being of college students, particularly nontraditional students. Participants ( n = 321) completed a series of surveys assessing their level of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, insomnia, and well-being. Participants also indicated their nontraditional student characteristics, level of resilience, and additional life stressors due to the pandemic. Statistical analyses found that participants reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and insomnia, with corresponding lower levels of well-being across all students, compared with prepandemic levels. Results showed that while nontraditional students indicated an increased number of life stressors during the pandemic compared with their traditional peers, nontraditional students also demonstrated higher levels of resilience. Nontraditional students appear to be more successful at managing stressful life events due to the increased resilience that comes with age and experience, which can better prepare them to persevere and overcome challenges.

PP21  Perceptions and experiences of employee mental health support: a cross-sectional survey of UK ambulance service staff

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. e10.2-e10
Author(s):  
Sasha Johnston ◽  
Jennifer Wild ◽  
Kristy Sanderson ◽  
Bridie Kent
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Organisational Support ◽  
Service Staff

BackgroundMental ill health among ambulance staff is widespread. Evidence suggests that, with the right support, staff experiencing mental ill health can continue to work, symptom severity can be reduced and suicide prevented. To identify whether organisational support meets staff needs, this research explored the perceptions and experiences of staff working in a large ambulance trust covering the south west of England.MethodsBetween September and October 2018, ambulance staff were invited to complete an online questionnaire, which assessed demographics, work-related stressful life events, related psychological impact assessed by the avoidant subscale of Weiss and Marmar’s Impact of Event Scale-Revised, mental ill health sickness absence during the previous 12 months, perceptions and experiences of organisational support and acceptability of a proposed wellbeing intervention offering mandatory time-to-talk at work.ResultsOver 11% (N=540) of the workforce responded. The majority reported experiencing work-related stressful life events (n=444; 82%), that were associated with subsequent avoidant symptoms. Avoidant symptom severity peaked between six-months to five-years after an event (F (5,438) = 2.4, p=0.03), was associated with repeated exposure (F (4,439) = 2.9, p=0.01) and to sickness absence. A fifth of participants reported mental ill health sickness absence (21.6%), a third of which was not disclosed as related to mental health. Content analysis identified stigma, fear, as well as embarrassment, as barriers to disclosure and help-seeking. Perceptions and experiences of organisational support were significantly correlated (r (195) =0.46, p<0.001) and positive.ConclusionsSymptoms associated with work-related stressful life events can persist for years among ambulance staff. Given the association between organisational support and mental wellbeing, it is possible that an intervention, such as mandatory time-to-talk, supported at an organisation level could improve wellbeing among ambulance staff. Such an intervention needs to be evaluated in future research.

scholarly journals Genetic and environmental determinants of stressful life events and their overlap with depression and neuroticism

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni-Kim Clarke ◽  
Yanni Zeng ◽  
Lauren Navrady ◽  
Charley Xia ◽  
Chris Haley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Phenotypic Variance ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Genetic Overlap

Background: Stressful life events (SLEs) and neuroticism are risk factors for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, SLEs and neuroticism are heritable and genetic risk for SLEs is associated with risk for MDD. We sought to investigate the genetic and environmental contributions to SLEs in a family-based sample, and quantify genetic overlap with MDD and neuroticism. Methods: A subset of Generation Scotland: the Scottish Family Health Study (GS), consisting of 9618 individuals with information on MDD, past 6 month SLEs, neuroticism and genome-wide genotype data was used in the present study. We estimated the heritability of SLEs using GCTA software. The environmental contribution to SLEs was assessed by modelling familial, couple and sibling components. Using polygenic risk scores (PRS) and LD score regression (LDSC) we analysed the genetic overlap between MDD, neuroticism and SLEs. Results: Past 6-month life events were positively associated with lifetime MDD status (β=0.21, r2=1.1%, p=2.5 x 10-25) and neuroticism (β =0.13, r2=1.9%, p=1.04 x 10-37) at the phenotypic level.  Common SNPs explained 8% of the phenotypic variance in personal life events (those directly affecting the individual) (S.E.=0.03, p= 9 x 10-4). A significant effect of couple environment was detected accounting for 13% (S.E.=0.03, p=0.016) of the phenotypic variation in SLEs. PRS analyses found that reporting more SLEs was associated with a higher polygenic risk for MDD (β =0.05, r2=0.3%, p=3 x 10-5), but not a higher polygenic risk for neuroticism. LDSC showed a significant genetic correlation between SLEs and both MDD (rG=0.33, S.E.=0.08 ) and neuroticism (rG=0.15, S.E.=0.07). Conclusions: These findings suggest that SLEs should not be regarded solely as environmental risk factors for MDD as they are partially heritable and this heritability is shared with risk for MDD and neuroticism. Further work is needed to determine the causal direction and source of these associations.

Metabolic Syndrome Screening in People With Severe Mental Illness: Results From Two Spanish Community Mental Health Centers

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Fernández Guijarro ◽  
Carolina Miguel García ◽  
Edith Pomarol-Clotet ◽  
Elena Nunilón Egea López ◽  
Maria Dolors Burjales Martí ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Community Mental Health Centers ◽  
Mental Health Centers

BACKGROUND: The excess of mortality in people with severe mental illness is due to unnatural causes such as accidents or suicides and natural causes such as metabolic syndrome. The presence of modifiable risk factors like tobacco consumption increases cardiovascular and metabolic risk. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and other cardiovascular risk factors in people with severe mental illness. This study also aimed to identify the prevalence of patients receiving treatment for any metabolic syndrome risk factor. METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed. A total of 125 participants from two community mental health centers in Spain were recruited. RESULTS: More than half of the participants (58.4%) were active smokers. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 60%. A total of 16.8% received previous treatment for hypertension, 17.6% for hypertriglyceridemia, and 11.2% for diabetes. No differences were found between centers (22.7% vs. 18.7%, p = .9). CONCLUSIONS: The findings underscore the importance of monitoring the physical health of patients on antipsychotic therapy. The identification and management of cardiovascular and metabolic risks factors is an essential part of nursing care for people with severe mental illness. Mental health nurses are ideally positioned to carry out this task by performing physical health screening, health education, and lifestyle interventions.

Joint effect ofADARB1gene,HTR2Cgene and stressful life events on suicide attempt risk in patients with major psychiatric disorders

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Karanović ◽  
Saša Šviković ◽  
Maja Pantović ◽  
Svetlana Durica ◽  
Goran Brajušković ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Attempt ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Stressful Life
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