Religion and Completed Suicide: a Meta-Analysis

Wu, Anhua; Wang, Jingyu; Jia, Cun-Xian

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131715

Cited by 142 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…About three-quarters of the studies published to-date, including studies in Western (predominantly Christian) and in Middle Eastern (predominantly Muslim) countries, have reported significant inverse relationships between at least one aspect of religion and at least one dimension of suicidality Stack and Kposowa 2011). A meta-analysis of international studies, including case-control and retrospective cohorts, found an overall protective effect of religiosity against suicide (Wu et al 2015).…”

Section: Religiosity and Suicidalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Religiosity Predict Suicidal Behavior?

Lester

2017

Religions

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Research was reviewed on whether self-report measures of religiosity were a protective factor against suicidal behaviors. It was found that scores on Francis's measure of religiosity was negatively associated with non-lethal suicidal behavior (ideation and attempts), a protective effect. Similarly, it was found that intrinsic religiosity (but not extrinsic religiosity) was negatively associated with non-lethal suicidal behaviors. However, these associations were weak. Research is needed on the issue whether counselors can use their patients' religiosity to reduce the risk of dying by suicide. Keywords: religiosity; suicidal ideation; attempted suicideThe association of religion and suicide has long been of interest. Durkheim (1897) noted and tried to explain the fact that Protestants have higher suicide rates than Roman Catholics, while it has long been known that Muslims have lower suicide rates than Christians (Lester 2006). There has been a great deal of research and theorizing about the role of religion, religiosity, and spirituality in increasing the risk of suicidal behavior versus acting as a protective factor for suicidal behavior. 1 In a meta-analysis of nine studies, Wu et al. (2015) found significant protective effects of religion (as measured by church/temple attendance or claiming/practicing a religion) on completed suicide. This effect was found to be stronger in studies conducted in Western cultures, in areas with high religious homogeneity, and among older populations. Sisask et al. (2010) also reported cross-cultural differences in the protective effects of three dimensions of religiosity (religious denomination, subjective religiosity, and organizational religiosity) for attempted suicide. The strongest protective effect across the different study sites, such as Brazil, Estonia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Sri Lanka, was found for subjective religiosity, that is, considering oneself to be a religious person, while the results for the more objective indicators of religiosity were mixed. The present chapter focuses on the association between religiosity and suicidal behavior in individuals. Since the research on this association involves self-report questionnaires, 2 the suicidal behavior is limited to suicidal ideation and, occasionally attempted suicide. Furthermore, we will focus more on our own research, but not to the exclusion of the research of others.

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Section: Religiosity and Suicidalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Religiosity Predict Suicidal Behavior?

Lester

2017

Religions

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“…Underlying these hypotheses were observations that religion potentially provides a set of coping mechanisms for responding to stress, religion can offer social support through participation in religious communities, some religions explicitly teach members not to commit suicide, and some religions teach members to limit or abstain from alcohol consumption (a risk factor for suicide). (Wu, Wang et al 2015)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion as a Risk Factor for Suicide Attempt and Suicide Ideation Among Depressed Patients

Lawrence¹,

Brent²,

Mann³

et al. 2016

J Nerv Ment Dis

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We aimed to examine the relationship between religion and suicide attempt and ideation. 321 depressed patients were recruited from mood-disorder research studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Participants were interviewed using the SCID, Columbia University Suicide History form, Scale for Suicide Ideation, and Reasons for Living Inventory. Participants were asked about their religious affiliation, importance of religion, and religious service attendance. We found that past suicide attempts were more common among depressed patients with a religious affiliation (OR 2.25, p=.007). Suicide ideation was greater among depressed patients who considered religion more important (Coeff. 1.18, p=.026), and those who attended services more frequently (Coeff. 1.99, p=.001). We conclude that the relationship between religion and suicide risk factors is complex, and can vary among different patient populations. Physicians should seek deeper understanding of the role of religion in an individual patient’s life in order to understand the person’s suicide risk factors more fully.

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“…In fact, level of religious involvement tends to be inversely related to depression, SB, drug misuse, impulsivity, and pathological gambling (Casey et al, 2011;Ronneberg et al, 2014;Caribé et al, 2012). With regard to SB, the studies entailed heterogeneous samples of patients presenting with several mental illnesses (Wu et al, 2015). However, what little research there is on patients with mood disorders suggests that religiosity bestows a protective effect against SB in this population (Mosqueiro et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%