Lifetime prevalence of and risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in a Korean community sample.
OBJECTIVE
Our study evaluated the lifetime prevalence of and risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in Jeollabuk-do Province, Korea.


METHODS
Participants were selected from the population of individuals aged 13-100 years living Jeollabuk-do Province, Korea. A total of 2,964 subjects provided information about lifetime suicidal behavior and sociodemographic and psychological characteristics, completing the Zung Depression Scale, the Scale for Suicidal Ideation, the Multidimensional Anger Inventory, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.


RESULTS
The lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, 24.8% and 6.2%, respectively, were higher than in previous studies. Multivariate regression revealed that family harmony had the highest odds ratio of all variables, including psychological factors. Along with depression and self-esteem, anger--which is the basic symptom of the Korean culture-related anger syndrome, Hwa-byung--was significantly associated with lifetime suicidal behavior.


CONCLUSIONS
Lifetime suicidal behavior was highly prevalent in Jeollabuk-do Province. The most significant risk factors were found to be social support, family disharmony, anger, depression, and low self-esteem in Koreans.
Tarique Rajasaheb
TR
Bagalkot
Jong-Il
JI
Park
Hyeong-Tai
HT
Kim
Hyun-Min
HM
Kim
Myung Sig
MS
Kim
Myeong-Sook
MS
Yoon
Sung-Hee
SH
Ko
Hye-Chung
HC
Cho
Young-Chul
YC
Chung
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult