title: Is religiosity a protective factor against attempted suicide: a cross-cultural case-control study.
abstract: This cross-cultural study investigates whether religiosity assessed in three dimensions has a protective effect against attempted suicide. Community controls (n = 5484) were more likely than suicide attempters (n = 2819) to report religious denomination in Estonia (OR = 0.5) and subjective religiosity in four countries: Brazil (OR = 0.2), Estonia (OR = 0.5), Islamic Republic of Iran (OR = 0.6), and Sri Lanka (OR = 0.4). In South Africa, the effect was exceptional both for religious denomination (OR = 5.9) and subjective religiosity (OR = 2.7). No effects were found in India and Vietnam. Organizational religiosity gave controversial results. In particular, subjective religiosity (considering him/herself as religious person) may serve as a protective factor against non-fatal suicidal behavior in some cultures.
authors.affiliation: Estonian-Swedish Mental Health and Suicidology Institute, Tallinn, Estonia. merike.sisask@neti.ee
authors.forename: Merike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sisask
authors.forename: Airi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varnik
authors.forename: Kairi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kolves
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bertolote
authors.forename: Jafar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bolhari
authors.forename: Neury J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Botega
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fleischmann
authors.forename: Lakshmi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vijayakumar
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wasserman
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D029181:Spirituality; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology