Suicidal ideation and social integration in three Canadian provinces: The importance of social support and community belonging

Abstract

Extending recent developments in the neo‐Durkheimian analysis of suicidality as an indicator of social pathology, this paper analyses individual level survey data on suicidal ideation, perceptions of social support, and the sense of belonging from three Canadian provinces drawn from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2015–16). We ask whether or not social support and a sense of belonging affect suicide ideation differently. In answering this question, we pay attention to both subjective and objective indicators of integration, and how subjective indicators independently affect suicide ideation. Results show that a higher level of social support had the largest effect on suicidal ideation and that the effect of a sense of belonging disappeared when measures of social support are accounted for. These findings are consistent with Durkheim's general theory of suicide and previous studies on mental health, highlighting the importance of regular, proximate social interaction as a prophylactic against suicidality.

Social support, psychological strain, and suicidality: Evidence from Chinese universities

“…A systematic review (Hu et al, 2023) researched studies on the moderating effect of social support on suicide risk among patients with mental illness and concluded that both quantitative and qualitative studies supported the negative effect of social support on suicide risk. A bunch of studies documented similar evidence supporting the protective effect of social support as a moderator on suicidal attempts (Agyemang et al, 2022;Datta & Nakhaie, 2022;Demir & Sümer, 2022;Mitchell et al, 2021;Pickover et al, 2021;Shah et al, 2021;Shin et al, 2021;Su et al, 2022).…”