Values, economic estimations, and suicide intent

With reference to the special suicide risk among students, we define four criteria of suicidality: (1) suicide risk, (2) former suicide attempts, (3) prognosis of suicide risk in the future, (4) total scores of the FBS, a German questionnaire to assess suicide risk. The sample consists of 300 students, clients of a therapeutic counseling center. The statistical method is the multiple regression analysis. The predictors are sociobiography, personality tests (Giessen-Test, Hope Scale), estimations of economic conditions in the future with respect to general or personal loss of work, and preference of values, whether oriented more toward idealistic or materialistic values. The results show that the described parts of common variance between the criteria and the predictors differ from 35% (prognosis) and 54% (total score of the FBS). In between are suicide attempts (38%) and suicide ideas (45%). --Suicide ideas. The value preferences have a prominent part in the explanation of suicide ideas. The difference between individual idealistic values and materialistic preferences of society are responsible for this. --Former suicide attempts. Personality aspects and perspectives of the future have nearly the same weight. Less social potency, stronger feelings of insufficiency, and higher potential of aggression indicate the personality of persons with former suicide attempts. Unfavorable chances of getting work and negative expectations of the future are signs of a significant pessimism. --Prognosis by therapists. A poor prognosis is defined by certain personality aspects (self-insufficiency, dominance, less initiative), denial of value preferences and symptoms like sleeping and achievement disorders, free-floating anxiety, and more positive estimations of employment data. --FBS total score.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)