Suicide risk and mental health in university students according to place of accommodation

Abstract

Recently, the suicides of university students staying in state dormitories have been covered in the press and social media in Turkey. This coverage has led to the perception that staying in state dormitories increases the risk of suicide. This study aims to examine the effect of university students’ accommodation on suicide risk and mental health. In this study, data were collected from 528 students studying in the 2022–2023 academic year. Suicide probability scale and Brief symptom inventory were used as data collection tools. Parametric analyses (t-test and Anova) were used in data analysis. There is no significant effect of accommodation on suicide risk (p = 0.152), but there is a significant effect of accommodation on mental health (p = 0.010). This effect is observed between the home and family. Among university students, there was no significant difference in the effect of place of accommodation on suicide risk. However, it is seen that the place of accommodation is effective on mental health. It can be stated that this situation is of economic origin.