Association between age and attitudes toward suicide

Abstract

Background and objective: Attitudes toward suicide is one of the important determinants for help-seeking behaviors among suicidal population. We hypothesized that older age groups would have more favorable attitudes toward suicide than would younger groups. Methods: We conducted a survey of attitudes toward suicide in a nationally representative sample. Attitudes toward suicide were measured with the Korean version of the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the influence of age on attitudes toward suicide after adjusting for other sociodemographic and clinical variables. Results: A total of 1200 people in the general public responded to the survey. Older people expressed less favorable attitudes toward suicide than did younger people. According the multiple linear regression analysis, age was the most influential factor with regard to attitudes toward suicide. Conclusion: Contrary to our a priori hypothesis, people in the older age groups had more negative attitudes toward suicide than did those in the younger age groups. The results suggest that negative attitudes toward suicide in the general population may interfere with the help-seeking behavior of people at high risk for suicide. Future studies should directly investigate the relationship between attitudes toward suicide and suicide rates. (c) 2017 Asociacion Universitaria de Zaragoza para el Progreso de la Psiquiatria y la Salud Mental. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.