Characteristics of Korean Employees Without Depression but Having Suicidal Ideation

The aim of this study was to identify the factors related to suicidal ideation targeting the risk group showing suicidal ideation despite the absence of depression in Korean workers.

The data of 14,425 participants who were employees aged of 18 to 75 years who attended a mental health checkup program at the Workplace Mental Health Institute, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital from June 2015 to October 2019 were analyzed. A self-report questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic factors, suicidal ideation, job stress, levels of depression and anxiety, and resilience was administered. A Hierarchical logistic regression model was used with suicidal ideation as dependent variable. Separate analyses were conducted according to depressive symptoms using the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale.

Being women, older, and having low resilience, more perceived stress, more severe anxiety and less sleeping hours were associated with suicidal ideation in no-depression group (CES-D <16). In the subcategories of job stress, lack of reward was significantly associated with suicidal ideation in no-depression group.

This study identified the characteristics of a group that has no depression but has suicidal ideation in Korean workers. Among job stress items, lack of reward is a clear characteristic to be considered with caution in this group.