CORRELATE OF SUICIDAL THOUGHT ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT

CORRELATE OF SUICIDAL THOUGHT ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT

CORRELATE OF SUICIDAL THOUGHT ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT

 

By

Ukwuije, Chinedu Kelechi

 

&

 

Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling

Faculty of Education

University of Port Harcourt

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Abstract

Within the last decade, cases of suicide attempts and suicide among young people including those in the university system have been reported in Nigeria universities. Despite this, student interventions for suicide prevention remain largely ineffective. The study investigated correlate of suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt. The study adopted correlational research design. The population of the study was 50,568 undergraduate students and sample size of 252 was drawn using two sampling techniques: cluster sampling technique and simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire tagged “Suicidal Thought on Undergraduate Student” (STUS) was used to collect data for the study. The reliability of the instrument was 0.87. Four research questions as well as hypotheses were formulated for the study. The data collected were analyzed with Pearson product moment correlation to answer the research questions while z-test was used to test the corresponding null hypothesis. From the analysis, it is therefore concluded that here is significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates in University of Port Harcourt. Also, there is significant relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates. Based on the findings, it was recommended that a student that feels isolated or lack attention from loved once should talk to a professional. Psychologists and other mental health professionals can help you express and manage your feelings and find healthy coping tools.

 

Key Words: Suicidal thought, guilt, lack of attention and undergraduate.

 

Introduction

Being accepted to further studies at a university level is like a dream came through for most of the university students, despite the fact that studying in a university means additional responsibilities and pressure to succeed. In order to graduate, university students will have to do or involve in assignments, projects, small research, continuous assessments, written exams, attending classes, outdoor activities (extra co-curricular), group meetings, etc. Even though they realize that the journey is challenging and sometimes suffering, students have to endure whatever it is, in order to get a better life or position in the society. Like it or not, university students may expose themselves to tiring and stressful situations which eventually may affect their emotional or psychological states which may lead them to the idea of taking their own life or actually committing suicide (Tosevski, 2010).

According to Nwafor (2020), suicidal thought among students is defined as the wish, thought or desires to take one’s own life violently due to a variety of internal and external causes, such as personality, undesirable emotions and school life. Suicidal thought refers to thinking about ending one’s life. It ranges from infrequent feelings and wishes to be dead or thought that life is not worth living (Klonsky, 2016). Also, suicidal thought is the act of killing oneself deliberately initiated and performed by the person concerned in the full knowledge or expectation of its results (Alabi, & Abdulmalik, 2015). Suicidal behaviour take different forms such as taking a drug overdose, deliberately crashing a car, dyeing by hanging among others. It exists in the form of a consideration to act it out.

In this regard, the thought of engaging in suicide has been classified into active and passive forms. Active suicidal thought involves an existing wish to die along with a plan on how to carry out the death (Tucker & Wiesen-Martin, 2015). It also includes a specific plan that is likely to be taken, how an individual intends to kill him/herself and the intention to act on such thoughts.

In contrast, passive thought encompasses the desire to die but without a specific plan on how to carry out the act. Whether active or passive, the thoughts of hopelessness, helplessness and worthlessness are common thought distortions associated with suicidal ideation, while impulsivity facilitates the process of suicidal thought to attempt it (Klonsky & May, 2015). It is noteworthy that suicidal ideation does not necessarily imply that suicide will be attempted or completed. According to Hent (2015) not all suicidal thought actually attempted it.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2014), Suicide among youth is quite high and ranked as the third causes of death. Within the last decade, cases of suicide attempts and suicide among young people including those in the university system have been reported in Nigeria universities (Aloba, Adefemi, & Aloba, 2018). Despite this, student interventions for suicide prevention remain largely ineffective. This attracts the interest of the researcher to investigate the increase rate of undergraduate students’ suicidal rate.

Undergraduate students are a class of students in the university who are studying or running an academic program in order to get a first degree in a discipline or field of study. The University of Port Harcourt which is referred to as unique Uniport is best known for enlightenment and self-reliance. Due to the integrity and high standard of the institution, reading, research, assignment, practical’s etc is very essential to pass all the courses to attend the requirement of the school to become a graduate in the institution and for personal development. To achieve this, students must develop keen interest to read and acquire knowledge for better performance.

Hence, this may put student that is passing through social and psychological disorder like guilt, economic pressure, lack of attention from parents and friends, lack of school facilities, friendship problem into academic pressures. Academic pressure in the form of the desire to score good grades and maintain parental and peer approvals (Eneka, 2017). The absence of effective coping mechanism could make such pressures source of suicide thought. However, not all students have the capacity and the needed support to manage such pressures alongside other competing demands, the result sometimes is suicide ideation and the tendency to make an attempt in some hopeless situations.

Is important to know that suicide does not just happen; it sometimes takes the victims to think about it (Ugwu, Nwafor, Obi-Nwosu & Okoye, 2020). Students who evaluate themselves as not having the capacity to succeed or perform well academically may be involved in suicide. Some people might think or assumed that those who have suicidal ideation or thought, could be just having temporary suicidal ideation and they probably are not actually going to commit suicide. Their assumption could be right or could be wrong. But whatever it is, by having suicidal ideation means that the risk is there already and it is something that is worth to be taken into account.

Suicidal thought among undergraduate students is a fundamental element which can eventually lead to suicide attempt as well as suicide completion (Thompson, Dewa & Phare, 2012). As suicidal ideation tends to be common in a university setting (Curran, 2019) hence, it is important to look at the development of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among students at university level.

Other several university stressors that posed a risk for suicide among students in universities were identified, namely, the transition from school to university, planning their future, travelling, accommodation, finance for studies, entrance and admission requirements, ability to cope with academic work, the pressure to succeed, and health concerns of family members and themselves (Lew, 2020; Modi, 2017; Ozel, 2015). Furthermore, they were stressed by competition, burnout, extreme workloads, personal life problems, lack of leisure time, bullying, and high expectations of self/others (James, 2015). Also, students reported feeling intimidated by university management and leaders as well as health care professionals in seeking help (Lipson, 2019) mainly because they had a low cultural and contextual understanding of students (Cramer, 2017; Eskin, 2019).

Guilt has been found to influence suicidal thought. Guilt is the regret of having done wrong. Guilt is a moral emotion that occurs when a person believes or realizes—accurately or not—that they have compromised their own standards of conduct or have violated universal moral standards and bear significant responsibility for that violation (Felix, 2017). Guilt is closely related to the concept of remorse, regret, as well as shame. Students who are not performing well academically feel guilty of not reaching the expectation of their parents and peers. Guilt is seen as a private feeling of failure (Tangney, 2017). However, those who have high levels of guilt may be less likely to communicate their suicidal intention with others, or they could have tried to communicate using indirect means but had failed to be understood. Besides, many studies have shown that guilt is one of the factors leading to suicidal ideation.

Also, lack of attention is another factor that may lead to suicidal thought. Students develop their identities, self-esteem, and confidence by interactions and support from others (Deno, 2013). Everyone, including students, need to feel like they belong. Therefore, if a student is socially disconnected, a social loner, or is isolated from family and friends, this can pose a risk for low self-esteem, depression, and suicide. Attention deficits are common major causes of depression and may also be associated with risk for suicidal behaviour (Siegle, 2014). Support from family, close friends, and university friends can help prevent students from experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress by eliminating the problems that cause depression, anxiety, and stress because social support moderates the relationship between depressive symptoms and hopelessness in predicting suicidal ideation (Lamis, Ballard, May, & Dvorak, 2016).

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults (WHO, 2014), and evidence highlights increased susceptibility to thoughts and behaviours related to suicide (i.e. suicidal ideation) in the student population (O’Neil, 2018). Therefore, the objective of the present study is to investigate the self-reported of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and correlate of suicidal thought on undergraduate student of University of Port Harcourt.

Statement of the Problem

Suicidal behaviour is complex. It is an irrational desire to die. Suicide effects are tragic and felt long after the individual has taken his own life. A person who dies by suicide leaves behind a tangled confusion of family members and friend who try to make sense of a senseless and a purposeless act. Hence, suicidal thought among students is associated with several psychosocial indicators for well-being including: depression, loneliness, guilt, grief, anxiety, substance use, poverty, bullying, mood disturbance, feelings of sadness, despair and discouragement, resulting from personal loss and tragedy, poor relationship quality with parents and low social support and thus when perplexed adolescents may see suicide as last option.

Students can experience stress from family discord at home as well as having difficulties with academic pressure and peer relationships at school. All of these may lead to suicide thought. The suicide rate of adolescents now equals that of the general population. Given this gap, this study intends to assess the psychological factors as correlates of suicidal thought among undergraduate students in University of Port Harcourt.

Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to examine the correlate of suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt. The objective of the study include to:

1. Examine the correlate of guilt and suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
2. Determine the correlate of lack of attention and suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Research Question

The research questions will be used to guide the study.

1. To what extent does guilt correlate with suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state
2. To what extent does lack of attention correlate with suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance

1. There is no significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
2. There is no significant relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Methodology

The study adopted correlational research design. The population of the study was 50,568 undergraduate students and sample size of 252 was drawn using two sampling techniques: cluster sampling technique and simple random sampling technique. In adopting the cluster sampling technique, the researcher first of all divided the thirteen (13) faculties in the University of Port Harcourt into three clusters. Therefore, random sampling technique by balloting was used to draw one faculty from each of the above clusters. This is because random sampling technique gives each member equal opportunity of being selected during study. The selected faculties were Education, Health Sciences and Agriculture and two (2) departments were selected from each of the faculties.  From the total 6 department, 42 students are selected from each of the department using simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire tagged “Suicidal Thought on Undergraduate Student” (STUS) was used to collect data for the study. The reliability of the instrument was 0.87. The data collected were analyzed with Pearson product moment correlation to answer the research questions while z-test was used to test the corresponding null hypothesis.

 

Results Presentation

Research Question 1: To what extent does guilt correlate with suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Table 1 Pearson Product Moment Correlation on relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates

		Guilt	Suicidal Thought	Decision
Guilt	Pearson Correlation sig (2 tailed) N	1   252	0.797 0.000 252	Reject Ho1 (P0.05)
Suicidal thought	Pearson Correlation sig (2 tailed) N	0.797 0.000 252	1        252

         From table 1 above, it can be seen that relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates yielded co-efficient value of 0.795. This symbolizes that there is strong positive relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates. To ascertain if there is a significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates, the z-test conducted yielded a p-value of 0.000 at 250 degrees of freedom. From this analysis, it is clear that the obtained p-value was less than the chosen alpha of 0.05. This therefore indicates that there is significant between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates in University of Port Harcourt. The null hypothesis was hence rejected while alternate hypothesis was accepted.

Research Question 2: To what extent does lack of attention correlate with suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought on undergraduate students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Table 2: Pearson Product Moment Correlation on relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates

		Lack of Attention	Suicidal thought	Decision
Lack of attention	Pearson Correlation sig (2 tailed) N	1   252	0.846 0.000 252	Reject Ho2 (P0.05)
Suicidal thought	Pearson Correlation sig (2 tailed) N	0.846 0.000 252	1   252

     From table 2 above, it can be seen that relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates yielded co-efficient value of 0.846. This shows that there is strong positive relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates. To ascertain if there is a significant relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates, the z-test conducted yielded a p-value of 0.000 at 250 degrees of freedom. From this analysis, it is clear that the obtained p-value was less than the chosen alpha of 0.05. This therefore indicates that there is significant between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates in University of Port Harcourt. The null hypothesis was hence rejected while accepting alternate hypothesis.

Summary of findings

The following findings were ascertained:

1. There is significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates.
2. There is significant relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates

Discussion of Findings

Guilt and Suicidal Thought

The study revealed that there is significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates. The finding on this variable (guilt) and suicidal thought among undergraduates in university of Port Harcourt revealed that there is significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates because P-value (0.000) was less than alpha level of 0.05. This finding is in line with the finding of the study conducted by Okoedion (2019). The authors sees suicide as one of the most serious social and public health problems in Nigeria; and also found guilt to be a major risk factor predicting suicidal behaviour among youths. This finding is also in tandem with the findings of the study conducted by Wanyoike (2015), who found that guilt is a risk factor leading to suicidal attempts, creating dangerous impact on the family and society. From the above finding, it is therefore observed that guilt which give intense feelings of sadness and hopelessness may motivate students into committing suicide.

Lack of Attention and Suicidal Thought

The finding of the study shows that there is significant relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates. The poor relationship between parents and their child, concerns around parent’s support and pressure on children contributed to the academic pressures as a risk factor for suicidal ideation. These findings corroborate that of (Donath, 2014) who stated that parent-student conflict affects the likelihood of entertaining suicidal ideation. Poor relationships with parents and challenges with academic challenges were also established by Arria (2014) in their study which revealed the poor relationship between parents as a predictor of suicidal ideation.

 

Conclusion

Student suicidal behaviour is seen as the most serious and public health problem affecting the Nigerian society. It is stated in this work that suicidal behaviour among university students as created dangerous impacts on the family and society at large. From the finding of this study, it is therefore concluded that here is significant relationship between guilt and suicidal thought among undergraduates in University of Port Harcourt. Also, there is significant relationship between lack of attention and suicidal thought among undergraduates.

 

Recommendations

Based on the findings of this study, the researchers recommended the following;

1. University counsellors should always counsel the students from guilt about upholding self-worth, maintaining confidence and positive view of themselves in their academic and social life pursuits. This will deter the students from committing suicide when confronted with strenuous conditions.
2. Public campaign and awareness on how to develop positive mental health attitudes by the depressed students should always be planned and promoted by the university authorities in order to ensure the balanced and holistic development of the young ones to avoid suicide thought or attempt.
3. Parents should take the responsibility and encourage their children to report any suicide thought immediately so that they can take up the issue with the psychiatrist and prevent any tragic unfortunate outcome.
4. A student that feels isolated should talk to a professional. Psychologists and other mental health professionals can help you express and manage your feelings and find healthy coping tools.

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