Exposure to suicide and suicidality in Korea: differential effects across men and women?

Little is known about whether exposure to suicide within close social networks is associated with the suicidality in exposed individuals, and potential gender differences regarding this association.

This study examines the effect of exposure to suicide on the suicidality in exposed individuals.

The data were drawn from the 2009 Korean General Social Survey, a nationally representative interview survey. Suicidality was measured by the suicidality module in the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), with exposure to suicide being determined by asking about the experience of a failed or completed suicide attempt by a closely related person.

Exposure to the suicide of someone close was significantly associated with higher suicidality in exposed individuals. While the effect of a failed attempt became non-significant after controlling for psychological factors, that of exposure to a completed act of suicide remained significant. A subsample analysis by gender indicated a significant gender difference: with control for demographic and psychological factors, exposure to a completed suicide had a significant effect on the suicidality of females only. The effect of exposure to a failed attempt became non-significant both in males and females after controlling for other factors.

Findings suggest the necessity of screening for prior exposure to suicide in suicide risk assessment and the need for gender-tailored suicide-prevention strategies.