Suicide: The Plethora of Socio-Psychological Variables That Contribute to Ending One’s Own Life

Abstract

Suicide can be defined as the act of intentionally terminating one’s own life (Wikipedia, 2007). Research has identified a large number of socio-psychological variables that contribute to suicide. Depression, anxiety, hopelessness and previous suicidal ideation have been considered risk factors for suicide. Baumeister’s (1990) escape theory has highlighted that suicidal individuals need to escape the self. Social isolation and the media often contribute to suicide and suicidal behaviour. Numerous socio-psychological variables contribute to suicide, and future research into the area is pivotal in an attempt to curb the current suicide rate.

Suicide is a uniquely human phenomenon (Roalfe, 1928), and for this reason poses many challenges in assessing the socio-psychological variables involved. In recent decades, suicide has emerged as a significant global public health issue, with a marked increase in the number of actual suicides and attempted suicides (Bridge, Goldstein, & Brent, 2006). In Australia, there were 2,101 recorded deaths as a result of suicide in 2005, which represented 1.6 percent of deaths of all ages (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007).

There are a multitude of reported risk factors and antecedents of suicide, such as high intelligence (e.g., Voracek, 2005), having never been married (e.g., Mastekaasa, 1995; Tarrier, Barrowclough, Andrews, & Gregg, 2004), and mental illness (e.g., Procter, 2005). However, no one single psychological variable can explain suicide in its entirety. Rather, it is a multifarious and complex phenomenon that requires an encapsulation of socio-psychological processes in order to fully understand and comprehend it (refer to Concept Map). The key variables that contribute to suicide are anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. Suicide ideation has been shown to be risk factor for suicide completion, along with suicidal ideation. Baumeister (1990) has proposed the escape theory of suicide, which places an emphasis on escaping aversive self-awareness. Finally, poor social relationships, often resulting in social isolation and the media portrayal of suicide play an important role in suicide, both in terms of causation and prevention.

Depression and Anxiety

One of the strongest and most reported antecedents of suicide is depression (e.g., O’Conner at al., 2006; Baumeister, 1990). Research by Palmer and Connelly (2005) found that prisoners who had higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory-II also had higher scores on the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation. These prisoners were also likely to have had previous episodes of self-harm. O’Conner, Armitage, and Gray’s (2006) research supported the association between parasuicide (deliberate self-harm) and hopelessness, depression, and anxiety. They found that depression (a clinical variable) and affective attitude, self-efficacy, group identity, and descriptive norms (social psychological variables) were predictive of future intent to self harm. Goldston, Reboussin, and Daniel (2006), reported that trait levels of depression, anxiety,and hopelessness were found to be consistently related to suicide attempts. Anxiety was discovered to have the most persistence over time.

Barber (2001) proposed that, in males, suicide was not a result of a singularly depressed affect, but rather a combination of depressed affect and negative social comparison. Males often perceived others around them as being better off, and as such were predisposed to suicide. Females, on the other hand, were predisposed to suicide with respect to their absolute and relative levels of happiness.

Suicidal Ideation

Suicide ideation has often been considered a precursor for actual suicide (e.g., Wong, Ang, & Huan, 2007; Brezo, Paris, Turecki, 2006). Wong et al. (2007) found that negative self-concept, anger control problems, and emotional distress significantly predicted suicidal ideation in a sample of Singaporean adolescents. With regards to psychological maladjustment, emotional distress and negative self-concept were classed as internalising problems whilst anger control problems were classed as externalising problems.

Emotional distress can be characterised by negative affect, and anxiety and depression resulting from some great distress (Wong et al., 2007). Negative self-concept involves a lack of aspects of the self, which inhibits a positive outlook on life. Finally, anger control issues entail arguing with others, negativistic attitude, and disregarding rules. Interestingly, there existed gender differences in suicidal behaviour. In males, negative self-concept was the significant predictor of suicidal ideation, yet in females the predictor was emotional distress. Adolescents that primarily internalised issues, and partly externalised their problems, were found more likely to exhibit suicidal behaviours (Wong et al., 2007).

Hopelessness

One of the most robust predictors of suicide is hopelessness. In a study by Tarrier et al. (2004), the association between suicide ideation and hopelessness was assessed in a sample of schizophrenia patients. Over 70 percent of the subjects reported being mildly hopeless, moderately hopeless, or severely hopeless as measured on the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Significant correlations were found between negative self-esteem, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, the stability of hopelessness as a predictor of suicide was investigated by Kuo, Gallo, and Eaton (2004). Participants in the study who reported feeling hopeless were over ten times more likely to commit suicide in the thirteen year follow-up period.

MacLeod, Tata, Tyrer, Schmidt, Davidson, and Thompson (2005) assessed the precise elements of hopelessness that contribute to suicidal behaviour. Hopelessness was divided into two components, future positive events (events in the future looking worth looking forward to) and future negative events (events in the future not looking forward to). Positive and negative events were further broken down into number of events occurring, perceived likelihood of an outcome and its value of importance. After controlling for depression and anxiety, results showed that subjects with a small number of positive events and less likelihood of an outcome for positive events reported higher hopelessness scores. Combined with this, subjects that had negative future thinking were prone to suicidal behaviour.

Social Variables

As stated in Joiner, Brown, and Wingate (2005), social isolation has consistently been a pertinent issue related to suicide, and indeed a strong social network has often been attributed to protecting people against the risk of suicide. In a study of over 4,000 adolescents from the United States, the associations between social isolation, psychological health, and protective factors were examined (Hall-Lande, Eisenberg, Christenson, Neumark-Sztainer, 2007). Subjects who reported feelings of social isolation were at a higher risk suicide attempts, showed depressive symptoms, and had lower self-esteem scores. This was in contrast to participants who felt strongly connected to their schools, their peers, and their family, such that these factors served as protective mechanisms against poor psychological health including suicidal behaviour.

Additionally, research by Lester (1991) highlighted that suicide rates of all ages were correlated with social integration. That is, when social integration was higher, suicide rates were lower. Similarly, Long and Miller (1991) explained that subjects who perceive themselves as lacking family support were at highest risk for suicidal behaviour. It is clear from research that social isolation, including poor social networks with family, friends, and peers, can have potentially dire consequences.

Media

A related social factor of suicide is the media and copycat suicides. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report in 2000 outlining the evidence of increased suicides, especially in young people, after media coverage of suicides (WHO, 2000). Of particular concern is the impact of mass murders and suicides, as was the case in the Virginia Tech shootings. The student responsible, Cho Seung-hui, viewed the culprits of the previous Columbine High School shootings as martyrs, before going on to kill 32 people and himself (Bond, 2007). The president of the American Psychological Association has in fact called for the media to not sensationalise the copycat murders in light of the media’s power to trigger such tragedies (Bond, 2007). Blood, Pirkis, and Holland (2007) concluded that “journalistic decisions to maximize newsworthiness of a story often conflict with the promotion of accurate, ethical, and responsible reporting of suicide” (p. 68).

Escape Theory

Suicide can be viewed, in part, as an escape from aversive self-awareness (Baumeister, 1990). Baumeister (1990) has presented the escape theory of suicide, which posits a number of specific steps that lead to suicide. The first contributor to suicide tends to be setbacks and recent failures, coupled with high expectations. To view the self as extremely negative and deficient is common in suicidal people, and as such implies aversive high self-awareness. Largely related to this is the link between unfavorable conditions and suicide rates (Baumeister, 1990), and the presence of negative life events and associated deliberate self-harm (Kinyanda, Hjelmeland, & Musisi, 2005). The next stage is negative affect, with strong evidence supporting the notion that depressed and anxious affect appears to be a feature of pre-suicidal state. To be aware of, and view the self as inadequate due to certain self-attributions is likely to contribute to negative affect.

The final stage is cognitive deconstruction, in which the person tries to escape their negative affect by rejecting and avoiding meaningful thought. Three major aspects of cognitive deconstruction exist: constricted time perspective, concreteness of thought processes, and proximal goals. Moreover, as a result of such cognitive deconstruction, a number of consequences are identified. Firstly, disinhibition removes the barriers to take one’s own life. Second, passivity implies that individuals passively identify with the victim role instead of actively taking one’s own life. Third, suicidal individuals often suppress their emotions, which is a central component in one’s effort to deconstruct their own experiences. Finally, thought processes preceding suicide are often irrational and fantasy-filled, thus adding to the constriction of meaningful thought.

Conclusion

Despite the apparent depth of research into the socio-psychological variables contributing to suicide, further research is not only necessary but vital for the possibility of prevention and intervention. Accumulation and examination of the current research into the factors involved in suicide appear to suggest a strong relationship between social and psychological variables. A multi-dimensional view and method is needed to fully grasp and explain suicide, yet with all the confounding variables evident a fully comprehensive model seems unlikely in the near future.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2007). Suicides, Australia, 2005. Retrieved 26 October 2007, from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/3309.0/

Barber, J. G. (2001). Relative misery and youth suicide. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35(1), 49-57.

Baumeister, R. F. (1990). Suicide as escape from self. Psychological Review, 97(1), 90-113.

Blood, R., Pirkis, J.,& Holland, K. (2007). Media reporting of suicide methods: An Australian perspective. Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Intervention, 28(1), 64-69.

Bond, M. (2007). The media make a killing. New Scientist, 194, 53.

Brezo, J. Paris, J., & Turecki, G. (2006). Personality traits as correlates of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide completions: A systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandenavica, 113 (3), 180-206.

Bridge, J. A., Goldstein, T. R., & Brent, D. A (2006). Adolescent suicide and suicidal behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47(3/4), 372-394.

Goldston, D. B.,Reboussin, B. A., & Daniel, S. S. (2006). Predictors of suicide attempts: State and trait components. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115(4), 842-849.

Hall-Lande, J. A., Eisenberg, M., Christenson, S. L., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2007). Social isolation, psychological health, and protective factors on adolescence. Adolescence, 42(166), 265-286.

Joiner, T. E., Brown, J. S., & Wingate, L. R. (2005). The psychology and neurobiology of suicidal behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 287-314.

Kinyanda, E., Hjelmeland, H., & Musisi, S. (2005). Negative life events associated with deliberate self-harm in an African population in Uganda. Crisis, 26(1), 4-11.

Lester, D. (1991). Social correlates of youth suicide in the United States. Adolescence, 26(101), 55.

Long, D. D., & Miller, B. J. (1991). Suicidal tendency and multiple sclerosis. Health & Social Works, 16(2), 104-109.

MacLeod, A. K., Tata, P., Tyrer, P., Schmidt, U., Davidson, K., & Thompson, S. (2005). Hopelessness and positive and negative future thinking in parasuicide. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44(4), 495-504.

Mastekaasa, A. (1995). Age variation in the suicide rates and self-reported subjective well-being of married and never married persons. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 5(1), 21-39.

O’Conner, R. C., Armitage, C. J., & Gray, L. (2006). The role of clinical and social cognitive variables in parasuicide. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45(4), 465-481.

Palmer, E. J., & Connelly, R. (2005). Depression, hopelessness and suicide ideation among vulnerable prisoners. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 15(30), 164-170.

Procter, N. G. (2005). Parasuicide, self-harm and suicide in Aboriginal people in rural Australia: A review of the literature with implications for mental health nursing practice. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 11(5), 237-242.

Roalfe, W. R. (1928). The psychology of suicide. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 23(1), 59-67.

Tarrier, N., Barrowclough, C., Andrews, B., & Gregg, L. (2004). Risk of non-fatal suicide ideation and behaviour in recent onset schizophrenia: The influence of clinical, social, self-esteem and demographic factors. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 39(11), 927-937.

Voracek, M. (2005). The social ecology of intelligence and suicide in Belarus. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145(5), 613-617.

Wikipedia (200). Suicide. Retrieved 24 October, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide

Wong, S. S., Ang, R. P., & Huan, V. S. (2007). Externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and suicidal ideation in Singaporean Adolescents: Sex differences. Current Psychology: Developmental, Learning, Personality Social, 25(4), 231-244.

World Health Organization. (2000). Preventing suicide: A resource for media professionals. Retrieved October 24, 2007, from http://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/426.pdf


Appendix

Theory

I feel my blog 2 has integrated the theory and research into suicide quite well. I have focused on a couple of main theories and strengthened these cases with relevant and current research. I have covered the social and psychological variables well after receiving feedback from James about my blog. Yet I may have been able to further demonstrate the sociological variables involved in suicide in more depth, but due to word limit restrictions found this difficult to do so.

Research

The research I have used has been mostly recent articles, providing up-to-date findings on the variables involved in suicide. I have provided a broad range of relevant literature pertaining to the issue of suicide. After reviewing the literature, I think I have effectively identified the key socio-psychological variables, whilst acknowledging the fact that there are multiple factors involved in suicide. There were no relevant articles available for use on e-reserve, however James did provide some useful links for me.

Written Expression

I provided a good title, an abstract, and headings throughout my essay to increase readability. My blog is simple yet easy to read, with the blog being well laid out. Some of my paragraphs were possibly too short/long, which could be improved on in the future. My readability analysis showed a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 23.3, and a Flesch Reading Ease of 13.7. I have attempted to use shorter words and sentences to improve the readability, yet still found it difficult to get a better readability score. I also embedded a concept map in order to make my main concepts easier to read and understand.

Online Engagement

In the second half of the semester my online engagement has improved a lot, as shown by my ‘two stars’. This was probably due to be better understanding of the processes involved in having my own blog page. I have contributed a number of blog posts (mostly related to suicide as this was my topic choice), added a number of useful links, provided a couple of possibly research articles for another student, and commented on a number of other students’ blog pages (refer to my blog page). Admittedly, my contributions have declined slightly as the semester continued due to commitments with other work and up-coming exams.

Useful Resources

Please refer to my blog home page for a number of useful suicide resources.

Concept Map

- click on image for larger view