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A cross-national study on gender differences in suicide intent.
Aislinné Freeman1, Roland Mergl2,3, Elisabeth Kohls2
1Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie der Universität Leipzig, Semmelweisstraße 10, Haus 13, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. aislinne.freeman@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.
BMC Psychiatry
|July 1, 2017
Summary
Males exhibit higher intent in suicide attempts compared to females, with significant gender differences observed across age groups and countries. This highlights the need for gender-tailored suicide prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Suicide claims over 58,000 lives annually in Europe, with attempts estimated to be 20 times more frequent.
- Males demonstrate a higher suicide rate despite lower attempt rates compared to females, suggesting differences in intent.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine gender disparities in suicide intent among individuals who attempted suicide.
- To explore how age and country influence these gender differences in suicide attempts.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the EU-funded OSPI-Europe project, encompassing 5212 participants across Germany, Hungary, Ireland, and Portugal.
- Categorized suicide intent using the Feuerlein scale into Non-habitual Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH), Parasuicidal Pause (SP), Parasuicidal Gesture (SG), and Serious Suicide Attempt (SSA).
- Employed chi-squared tests, odds ratios, and regression analyses to assess gender differences in intent, age, and country.
Main Results:
- A significant association was found between suicide intent and gender, with males more frequently exhibiting Serious Suicide Attempts (SSA) (p < .001).
- Statistically significant gender differences in suicide intent were observed across age groups (p < .001) and countries (p < .001).
- Intentional drug overdose, a common method, showed significantly higher rates of SSA in males compared to females (p < .005).
Conclusions:
- The study underscores significant gender differences in suicidal intent, particularly in the severity of attempts.
- Findings support the development of gender-specific suicide prevention and intervention programs to address these disparities.
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