Abstract
Research was reviewed on whether self-report measures of religiosity were a protective factor against suicidal behaviors. It was found that scores on Francis’s measure of religiosity was negatively associated with non-lethal suicidal behavior (ideation and attempts), a protective effect. Similarly, it was found that intrinsic religiosity (but not extrinsic religiosity) was negatively associated with non-lethal suicidal behaviors. However, these associations were weak. Research is needed on the issue whether counselors can use their patients’ religiosity to reduce the risk of dying by suicide.
Highlights
Research was reviewed on whether self-report measures of religiosity were a protective factor against suicidal behaviors
Hovey et al (2014) found that only intrinsic religiosity was associated with suicidality in a sample of American undergraduates but, in a multiple regression, intrinsic religiosity was no longer statistically significant as a predictor of suicidality, outweighed by a scale to measure perceived emotional support from church members
In their study, mentioned above, of Kuwaiti and American college students, Abdel-Khalek and Lester (2007) found that self-reported religiosity was negatively associated with suicidal ideation (measured using Reynolds’ (Reynolds 1987)
Summary
Religiosity and spirituality are generally recognized to be protective factors for suicidal behavior. Systematic reviews of the literature, and general population studies, find strong evidence regarding the protective role of many aspects of religiosity against suicide. About three-quarters of the studies published to-date, including studies in Western (predominantly Christian) and in Middle Eastern (predominantly Muslim) countries, have reported significant inverse relationships between at least one aspect of religion and at least one dimension of suicidality (Koenig et al 2012; Stack and Kposowa 2011). A meta-analysis of international studies, including case-control and retrospective cohorts, found an overall protective effect of religiosity against suicide (Wu et al 2015). The present chapter will review research using three measures: Francis’s religiosity scale (Francis 1992), the intrinsic-extrinsic religiosity scale (Gorsuch and McPherson 1989) and a single-item self-report measure (Abdel-Khalek and Lester 2007)
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