Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Sep 25:13:890.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-890.

Differentiated effects of social participation components on suicidal ideation across age groups in South Korea

Affiliations

Differentiated effects of social participation components on suicidal ideation across age groups in South Korea

Chaelin Karen Ra et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Suicide among adults in the Korean population merits study to improve the understanding of the salient risk and protective factors because suicide rates in Korea have increased dramatically over the past 20 years. However, the association between social participation and suicidal ideation is poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to identify the components of social participation in Korean society and to examine the processes through which the components of social participation influence the degree of suicidal ideation people experience across age groups.

Methods: This study used survey data from the 2010 Seoul Welfare Panel Study. The sample population was restricted to adults aged 20 or older and was categorised into three groups by respondents' ages. The groups were defined as 'young adults' (aged 20-39), 'middle-aged adults' (aged 40-64) and 'the elderly' (age 65 or more). Three dimensions of social participation were identified by factor analysis--friendship network and hobby group, religious involvement, and instrumental social participation.

Results: In the young adult group, only instrumental participation was statistically significant (-0.10, p = 0.06). In the middle-aged adult group, only friendship network and hobby group had a strong association with suicidal ideation (-0.11, p = 0.01). Interestingly, for the elderly, religious involvement was related to suicidal ideation, but in a positive way (0.26, p = 0.02).

Conclusion: The study results supported the theory that different components of social participation are associated with a lower risk of suicidal ideation in different stages of adulthood.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Society at a glance. OECD social indicators, organisation for economic Co-operation and development 2009. 2009. Retrieved 10.10.12, from http://www.oecd.org/els/socialpoliciesanddata/societyataglance2011-oecds....
    1. Statistics Korea. 2010 Annual report on the cause of death statistics, 11–1240000-000028-10 2011. 2010. Retrieved 10.10.12, from. http://kostat.go.kr/portal/english/resources/2/4/1/index.static.
    1. Durkheim E, Simpson G. Suicide. 2010. SimonandSchuster.com.
    1. Park SM, Cho S, Moon SS. Factors associated with suicidal ideation: role of emotional and instrumental support. J Psychosom Res. 2010;69(4):389–397. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2010.03.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vilhjalmsson R, Kristjansdottir G, Sveinbjarnardottir E. Factors associated with suicide ideation in adults. Soc Psychiat Psychiatr Epidemiol. 1998;33:97–103. doi: 10.1007/s001270050028. - DOI - PubMed