Prevalence of Suicide Ideation and its Gender Distribution Among Undergraduate of University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/japsy.1154Keywords:
Suicide ideation, Suicide, College students, Undergraduate students, Prevalence, GenderAbstract
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to find out the prevalence of suicide ideation among undergraduate students of the University of Cape Coast and the gender distribution of suicide ideation among them.
Methodology: This study was a quantitative one and it used the quasi-experimental research design, specifically, the pre-test, post-test and control group design. A total of 30 undergraduate students from four colleges of the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana was non-randomly assigned to two treatment groups, Individual Psychology and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (IP and CBT) and one control group. Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation was used for the collection of data for the study. Descriptive Statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the data.
Findings: Results showed that two out of every 15 UCC undergraduate students experience suicide ideation continuously and persistently. Again, the rate at which female students think suicidal, that is, have suicidal ideas, is higher than the male students. In other words, female undergraduate students of University of Cape Coast experience suicide ideation more than their male counterparts. It was concluded that suicide ideation is prevalent, 13.3%, among undergraduate students of UCC.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: Based on the findings, it was recommended that constant screening of suicide ideation be made part of the University’s program and the Counselling Centre should be mandated to organise the screening exercise. This will help educate and create more awareness on suicide ideation and offer more people, per the screening, the opportunity to benefit from the therapies.
Downloads
References
Arria, A. M., Winick, E. R., Garnier-Dykstra, L. M., Vincent, K. B., Caldeira, K. M., Wilcox, H. C., & O’Grady, K. E. (2011). Help seeking and mental health service utilization among college students with a history of suicide ideation. Psychiatric Services, 62(12), 1510-1513.
Arslan, G., Ayranci, U., Unsal, A., & Arslantas, D. (2009). Prevalence of depression, its correlates among students, and its effects on health- related quality of life in a Turkish university. Upsala Journey of Medical Sciences. 114(3), 170-177.
Babbie, E. (2010). The practice of social research (3rd ed.). Oxford Press.
Baiden, P., Kuuire, V. Z., Shrestha, N., Tonui, B. C., Dako-Gyeke, M., & Peters, K. K. (2019). Bullying victimization as a predictor of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among senior high school students in Ghana: Results from the 2012 Ghana Global School-Based Health Survey. Journal of School Violence, 18(2), 300–317.
Borges, V. R. & Werlang, B. S. (2006). A study of suicide ideation in adolescent from 15 to 19 years old. Estudos de Psicologia. 11(3), 345-351.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC). (2012). Injury center: Violence prevention. National suicide statistics at a glance. http://www.cdc.gov/violence prevention/suicide/statistics.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano, C. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed method research. Sage.
Dzorgbo, D-B.S. (2014). Postcolonial development in Ghana and Korea: The colonial factor. In D-B.S. Dzorgbo & S. Tonah (Eds.), Sociology and development issues in Ghana: A sociology reader. (pp. 51-69). Woeli Publishing Services.
Eshun, G. (2011). Ecotourism and social research. VDM Publishing
Eskin, M., Voraccek, M., Steiger, S. & Altinyazar, V. (2011). A cross cultural investigation of suicidal behaviour and attitudes in Austrian and Turkish medical students. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 46(9), 813-823.
Ghana Statistical Service. (2013). The 2010 population & housing census report: Children, adolescents and young people in Ghana. Author.
Goldney, R. D., Clary, E. G. & Snyder, M. (2010). Stigmatization and suicide bereavement. Death Studies, 33(7), 591-609.
Harris E. C., & Barraclough, B. (1997). Suicide as an outcome for mental disorders. A meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry. 170, 205-28. doi: 10.1192/bjp.170.3.205. PMID: 9229027.
Husky, M. M., Olfson, M., He, J., Nock, M. K., Swanson, S. A., & Merikangas, K. R. (2012). Twelve-month suicidal symptoms and use of services among adolescents: Results from the national comorbidity survey. Psychiatric Services, 63(10), 989-996.
Joiner, T. E. (2005). Therapeutic effects of psychological autopsies: The impact of investigating suicides on interviewees. Crisis, 30(1), 20-24.
Korb, L. & Platter, I. E. (2014). Suicide ideation and depression in university students in Botswana. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 24(5), 420-426.
Liu, J., Chen, X., & Lewis, G. (2011). Childhood internalizing behaviour: Analysis and implications. J. Psychiatr. Ment. Health Nurs., 18, 884–894.
Nock, H. McMenamy, J. & Mitchell, A.M. (2008a). In the aftermath of teenage suicide: A qualitative study of the psychosocial consequences for the surviving family members. BMC Psychiatry, 26(8).
Nock, W. R., Wedig, A., Holmberg, Z. & Hooley, A. (2008). An epidemiological study of Aboriginal adolescent risk in Canada: The meaning of suicide. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 21(1), 3-12.
Nowotny, K. M., Peterson R. L., & Boardman J. D. (2015). Gendered context: variation in suicidal ideation by female and male youth across United States. J. Health Soc. Behav., 56(1), 114-130.
Oppong, A. K., Kugbey, N., Osafo, J., Quarshie, E. N. B., & Sarfo, J. O. (2017). The prevalence and correlates of suicidal behaviours (ideation, plan and attempt) among adolescents in senior high schools in Ghana. SSM-Population Health, 3, 427–434.
Owusu-Ansah, F. E., Addae, A. A., Peasah, B., Oppong Asante, K. & Osafo J., (2019). Suicide among university students: prevalence, risks and protective factors.Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 8(1), 220-233.
Palmer C. J. (2004). Suicide attempt history, self-esteem, and suicide risk in a sample of 116 depressed voluntary inpatients. Psychological Reports, 95(3), 1092-1094.
Ram, R. K., Chaudhury, S. & Jagtab, B. L. (2018). Prevalence of suicidal ideation among university students. Pravara Medical Review10(3), 7-11.
Tosevski, D. L., Milovancevic, M. P., & Gajic, S. D. (2010). Personality and psychopathology of university students. Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 23(1), 48-52.
Trochim, W. M. K. (2006). Introduction to validity: Social research methods. www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/introval.php, August 9, 2019
Tyssen, R., Vaglum, P., Gronvold, N. T., & Ekerberg, O. (2001). Suicidal ideation among medical students and young physicians: A nationwide and prospective study of prevalence and predictors. Journal of Affective Disorder, 64(1), 69-79.
Van Niekerk, L., Scribante, L. & Raubenheimer, P. J. (2012). Suicidal ideation and attempt among South African medical students. S Afr Med J.102(6), 372-3.
Wilcox, H. C., Arria, A. M., Caldeira, K. M., Vincent, K. B., Pinchevsky, G. M., & O'Grady, K. E. (2010). Prevalence and predictors of persistent suicide ideation, plans, and attempts during college. Journal of Affective Disorders, 127(1-3), 287-294.
World Health Organization. (2016). Practice manual for establishing and maintaining surveillance systems for suicide attempts and self-harm. Author
World Population Review (2018). Retrieved from; https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-rate-by-country.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Benedicta Ama Adom-Mensah, Josephine Anterkyi Bentil , Theresa Dede Lawer , Justina Sarpong Akoto , Joshua A. Omotoshoe
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
