Social and psychological factors of the suicidal tendencies of Chinese medical students.

Aiming Zheng,Zhilin Wang

doi:10.1186/1751-0759-8-23

Abstract

BackgroundOver the past few decades, concern about suicide by college students has been on the rise worldwide, in general and in China particularly. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of social and psychological factors on the suicidal tendencies of Chinese medical students.FindingsOf the 540 students surveyed, 48 had a suicidal tendency to some extent. The highest rate of suicide was observed for fourth-year students, followed by the fifth-year, first-year, third-year, and second-year students. Female students and students not satisfied with their major had a higher rate of suicidal tendency. However, mature coping strategies had a protective effect on suicide. The stepwise regression analysis shows that academic burden, grade, and introversion/extraversion are the most significant risk factors for the suicidal tendency of Chinese medical students.ConclusionSuicide is affected by demographic risk factors as well as psychological factors. Our results lend support to a multi-factorial approach to the understanding and prevention of suicide by college students.

Highlights

Suicide is affected by demographic risk factors as well as psychological factors
Over the past few decades, concern about suicide by college students has been on the rise worldwide, in general and in China
Despite the considerable attention focused on this problem, much remains to be understood about the potential risk factors for suicide by college students

Summary

Conclusion

Suicide is affected by demographic risk factors as well as psychological factors. Our results lend support to a multi-factorial approach to the understanding and prevention of suicide by college students. We examine the effects of demographic variables, personality, stressful life events, social support, and coping strategies on the suicidal tendency of medical students in China. It might be helpful for identifying individuals at high risk of suicidal behaviors. The total scores for a suicidal tendency were regressed for sex, satisfaction with major, grade, economical background, stressful life events, social support, coping style, and 16PF scores.

Physical disease

Ability to adapt to unfamiliar conditions

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