Social Support as a Protective Factor Against Suicide Ideation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17605/cajssh.v7i2.1289Keywords:
Social Support, Protective Factor, Suicide IdeationAbstract
The rising incidence of suicide ideation in university students is a pressing global issue that is influenced by psychological, academic, and socio-economic -,stressors. This situation is worsened by the scarcity of mental health resources and the culture of mental health stigma in Nigeria, including regional inequalities amongst social support systems. Only by tackling these problems, we can protect the welfare of these marginalized groups, which are often used to make a living in informal social security networks due to inadequate institutional cover. Objective: The current study assesses whether social support protects against suicide ideation among 4,930 undergraduate students (44%) sampled across the Southeastern (n = 2430), Southwestern (n = 2128), and Northcentral (n = 372) zones in Nigeria. An ex post facto research framework was utilized through employment of validated measuring scales of social support and suicide ideation. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis were used to evaluate regional and demographic variations. There were notable differences; the Southeastern zone had the highest levels of social support (60.7%) and the lowest prevalence of suicide ideation (31.5%), while the Northcentral zone had the lowest levels of social support (32.5%) and the highest prevalence of suicide ideation (88.8%). And regression results reinforced that the social support was an important factor in reducing suicide ideation, being more influential in the Northcentral zone (R² = 0.077, p < 0.05). These findings highlight the urgent need to incorporate strong social support systems within Nigerian universities. Improving mental health policy need include providing access to mental health programs, training of culturally sensitive mental health practitioners and improving community engagement and commitment to strengthening personal support systems through these programs. These types of interventions are necessary to promote emotional well-being and mitigate suicide ideation among students to provide them the best opportunity to perform academically and personally.
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