Citation

Eskin M, Palova E, Krokavcova M. Arch. Suicide Res. 2014; 18(1): 58-73.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry , Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Medicine , Aydin , Turkey.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, International Academy of Suicide Research, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13811118.2013.803448

PMID

24350593

Abstract

Suicidal behavior and its variation across social contexts are of importance for the science of suicidology. Due to its special character controlled experimental studies on suicide are ruled out for ethical reasons. Cross-cultural studies may throw light on the etiology of both suicidal behavior and its cross-cultural variation. The present study compared suicidal behavior and attitudes in 423 Slovak and 541 Turkish high school students by means of a self-report questionnaire. The two groups reported similar percentages (Slovak = 36.4%; Turkish = 33.8%) of life-time, past 12-months or current suicidal ideation but significantly more Turkish (12.2%) than Slovak (4.8%) students reported life-time or past 12-months suicide attempts. Slovak adolescents displayed more liberal and permissive attitudes towards suicide, while those of Turkish adolescents were more rejecting. Turkish students rated themselves to be more religious and hence they believed to a greater extent that suicidal persons would be punished in a life after death than their Slovak peers. However, attitudes of Turkish students towards an imagined suicidal close friend were more accepting than the attitudes of Slovak students. Comparison of suicidal and nonsuicidal students revealed that those reporting suicidal ideation or attempts were more accepting of suicide and viewed suicide as a solution to a greater extent than the non suicidal ones. The results from this study suggest that cultural factors play a role in suicidal behavior, attitudes and reactions in a predicted direction.

Language: en