Associations between impulsivity, aggression, and suicide in Chinese college students

BMC Public Health

Yan Jie Yang¹  Xiong Zhao Zhu²  Hong Sui¹  Zheng Xue Qiao¹  Xiu Xian Yang¹  Xiao Hui Qiu¹  Yun Miao Yu¹  Chang Zhi He¹  Lin Wang¹ 

[1] Psychology Department, Public Health Institute, Harbin Medical University, 157 Baojian Road, Nangang, Harbin 150081, China;Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

关键词: Correlations;    University students;    Aggression;    Impulsivity;    Suicidal attempters;    Suicidal ideation;   

Others  :  1129856
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-551

 received in 2013-08-27, accepted in 2014-04-21,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Although there are accumulating data regarding the epidemiology of suicide in China, there are meager data on suicidal ideation and attempts among college students. Interestingly, elevated impulsivity is thought to facilitate the transition from suicidal thoughts to suicidal behavior. Therefore, the objective of this research was to identify the associations between suicide and the personality factors of impulsivity and aggression.

Methods

This study’s sampling method employed stratified random cluster sampling. A multi-stage stratified sampling procedure was used to select participants (n = 5,245). We conducted structured interviews regarding a range of socio-demographic characteristics and suicidal morbidity. The Patient Health Questionnaire depression module (PHQ-9) was used to acquire the information about thoughts of being better off dead or hurting themselves in some ways during the past two weeks. The impulsivity symptoms in this study were assessed with the BIS-11-CH (i.e., the Chinese version of the BIS-11), and the Aggressive symptoms were assessed with the BAQ. The statistical package for social science (SPSS) v.13.0 program (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for statistical analysis. Socio-demographic variables such as ethnic and gender were compared between groups, through the use of χ² tests. The nonparametric test (k Independent Sample test, Kruskal-Wallis H) was performed to determine differences between the personality factors of impulsivity and aggression and suicide.

Results

In total, 9.1% (n = 479) of the 5,245 students reported they have ever thought about committing suicide; and 1% (n = 51) reported a history of attempted suicide (attempters). The analyses detected significant differences in scores on cognitive impulsivity (p < 0.01), when comparing individuals who only had suicidal ideation and individuals who had attempted suicide. Moreover, significant differences were found between ideators only and attempters on scores of self-oriented attack (p < .001).

Conclusions

Suicidal ideation is prevalent among Chinese university students. Students with high aggression scores were more susceptible to committing suicide. Scores on self-oriented attack and cognitive impulsivity may be important factors for differentially predicting suicide ideation and suicide attempts.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Wang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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