Abstract
Understanding suicidal ideation is crucial for preventing suicide. Although “healthy immigrant effect” is a phenomenon that has been well documented across a multitude of epidemiological and social studies—where immigrants are, on average, healthier than the native-born, little research has examined the presence of such effect on suicidal ideation. The objective of this study is to investigate if there is a differential effect of immigration identity on suicidal ideation and how the effect varies by socio-demographic characteristics in the Canadian population. Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey in year 2014 were used. Multivariate logistic regression was employed. Our findings indicated that recent immigrants (lived in Canada for 9 or less years) were significantly less likely to report suicidal ideation compared with non-immigrants. However, for established immigrants (10 years and above of living in Canada), the risk of suicidal ideation converged to Canadian-born population. Moreover, male immigrants were at significantly lower risk of having suicidal ideation than Canadian-born counterparts; whereas, female immigrants did not benefit from the “healthy immigrant effect”. Our findings suggest the need for targeted intervention strategies on suicidal ideation among established immigrants and female immigrants.
Highlights
Suicide is a worldwide public health concern which is responsible for close to million deaths per year [1,2]
Our findings indicated that recent immigrants were significantly less likely to report suicidal ideation compared with non-immigrants
Male immigrants were at significantly lower risk of having suicidal ideation than Canadian-born counterparts; whereas, female immigrants did not benefit from the “healthy immigrant effect”
Summary
Suicide is a worldwide public health concern which is responsible for close to million deaths per year [1,2]. Non-fatal suicidal behavior represents a spectrum which may include suicidal ideations, suicidal plans, and non-fatal suicidal attempts. These behaviors have been linked to several negative consequences, including injury and hospitalization, and represent a burden on the health care system [2,4,5]. A wide range of factors have been associated with suicidal ideation that involve mental, physical, social, and psychological characteristics [9]. These factors may include gender, age, lower socioeconomic status, psychiatric disorders, somatic symptoms, and physical illnesses [5,9,10]
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