Health attitudes and suicidal ideation among university students.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine whether positive health attitudes are associated with suicidal ideation among university students after accounting for other health risk factors linked to suicidal ideation.


METHODS
Participants were 690 undergraduates from a large midwestern university during fall semester 2011.


METHODS
Participants reported demographics and health characteristics. Regression models compared individuals who reported suicidal ideation and those who did not.


RESULTS
In unadjusted models, suicidal ideation was significantly negatively associated with positive health attitudes, and positively associated with depression, drug use problems, sleep problems, and being overweight. In adjusted models, more positive health attitudes continued to be significantly negatively associated with suicidal ideation.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests a link between positive health attitudes and lower probability of suicidal ideation. Additional research is needed to assess enhancing general health attitudes as a suicide prevention effort.
a Department of Psychology , Bowling Green State University , Bowling Green , Ohio , USA.|b VISN 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua VA Medical Center , Canandaigua , New York , USA.
Lisham
L
Ashrafioun
c Addiction Research Center , Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA.
Erin
E
Bonar
b VISN 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua VA Medical Center , Canandaigua , New York , USA.
Kenneth R
KR
Conner
D017677:Age Distribution; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
Depression; health attitudes; suicidal ideation; university students