Dr. Brijesh Kumar Upadhayay
Researcher
Department of Psychology, Gurukul Kangari University, Hardwar, Uttranchal, India
Dr. Rohtash Singh
Lecturer
Department of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Haryana, India
Abstract
Suicides are linked to feelings of depression and hopelessness. Other factors in suicide include anxiety, drug abuse, problems in school or at work, and social problems. Aim of the present investigation is to know the differences between male and female adolescents. The sample consists of 50 (25 male and 25 female) subjects drawn from district Hardwar. The age of all subjects ranged from 15 to 18 years (mean 16.5 years) and majority of the subjects belonged to middle socio-economic status. All the tests were administered on the sample in-group setting in classrooms. Over the centuries, suicide had different meanings. Males of all the ages commit suicide at a higher rate than females although females attempt suicide more often than males. Suicide rates in India have shown a gradually increasing trend. Study reveals that male adolescents have scored significantly higher on the measures of suicidal ideation, whereas male adolescents have more psychological impairment on psychopathic deviation (Pp). There is significance gender difference on the measure of suicide ideation
Introduction
Besides physical change, the adolescents are on course for adulthood. In other words this period is the foundation stone of their life style. Since 1950s, the incidence of suicide among adolescents and young adults has nearly tripled (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1995). Suicide is now the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24 years, following motor vehicle crashes and homicide. Although suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, completed suicide are still relatively uncommon. Because completed suicides are so rare, it is useful to study more frequently occurring phenomena that often precede completed suicide, such as suicidal ideation. The present study “ Suicidal ideation among adolescents”, is an attempt with the objectives:
• To find out etiological factors leading to suicidal ideation.
• To know the differences between male and female adolescents on depression, hopelessness, neuroticism, Psychoticism, extraversion and stressful life events.
i) Over the centuries, suicide had different meanings. Socrates’ suicide is one of the most famous examples. The decision to commit suicide is more often prompted by a desire to stop living than by a wish to die. No single theory is likely to take into account all the available information about suicide. Very young children may be particularly at risk because they generally believe that death is reversible. Although the vast majority of teenagers pass through adolescence without major psychological problems. Males of all the ages commit suicide at a higher rate than females although females attempt suicide more often than males. The suicide ratio male and female range from 2:1 to 7:1. In many studies it is reported that the exposure to model of suicidal behavior can be a risk factor for suicide behavior. Suicide behavior can be learnt by imitation, especially among children, adolescents and adults (Schmidtke, 1988, 1998; Diekstra, 1995). Suicide rates in India have shown a gradually increasing trend. The rate in 1999 was 11.2 per 100,000 (Accidental Deaths and Suicide in India 1999, published by National Crime Record Bearue (NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India). States and cities with rapid social change are associated with higher suicide rates, such as the states of Kerala and Tripura, and cities like Pondicherry and Bangalore. The important association is alcohol dependence as a direct or indirect cause of suicide,
The Haryana state reported significant rise in suicide (43.1 %) in 1999 over 1998. The average suicide rate of Haryana was 11.7 per lakh as compared to national suicide rate 11.2 per lakh (Accidental Deaths and Suicide in India, published by NCRB, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India).
Freud is regarded as the father of psychological explanations of suicide, although he never wrote a paper specifically about suicide. He proposed that most individuals cope with the loss of a loved person through the experience of mourning. Eros is the life force, driving us towards survival, and Thanatos, the death instinct, propels us towards a state of non-existence. There is a constant interplay between these forces during an individual’s life. Essentially, Freud saw suicide as the outcome of this intrapsychic struggle.
Mental disorders are the most important cause of suicide.
Several researches based on Eysenck’s personality tests (Lolas et al, 1991; Nordstrom et al, 1995; Pallis and Jenkins, 1977) reveals that suicide attempters produce higher scores than controls on neuroticism and psychoticism.
Methodology
Sample
The sample consists of 400 ( 200 male and 200 female) subjects drawn from various Government Senior Secondary schools by using the multi-stage random sampling from Kurukshetra, Ambala, Sonepat and Jhajjar. The age of all subjects ranged from 15 to 18 years (mean 16.5 years) and majority of the subjects belonged to middle socio-economic status. All the tests were administered on the sample in-group setting in classrooms.
The following tests were used in this study:
1. Scale for Suicide Ideation (Beck, Kovacs, Weissman, 1979)
(Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock & Erbauge, 1961))
2. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1976a)
3. Hopelessness Scale (Beck, Weissman, Lester & Trexler, 1974)
4. Stressful life Events Scale (Singh, Kaur and Kaur, 1984)
5. Clinical Analysis Questionnaire (Part-II) (Cattell and Pebhees, 1971)
Scoring of the Tests
The tests were scored strictly in accordance with the procedure suggested by the authors in manuals. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was scored for extraversion, psychoticism and neuroticism measured which were labeled as E, P and N, Scale for Suicidal ideation, Hopelessness scale and Beck Depression Inventory were scored for three measures pertaining to Suicidal ideation, hopelessness and Depression. Stressful life events Scale was scored for the measure of the impact of life stressful events. Clinical Analyses Questionnaire Part-II was scored for all (12) pathological supplements.
All measures were used for examining the structure of suicide ideation.
Results and Discussion
After ascertaining that obtained data more or less meet the requirement of ‘t’ test to compare the mean scores of male and female adolescents the ‘t’ ratios were computed for all the measures used in the study. The mean, SD and ‘t’ ratio’s on different measures are reported in table-1. The ‘t’ ratio 1.96 and 2.59 with the degree of freedom 398 (N-2) are significant at .05 and .01 levels of probability respectively.
Table 1 - Comparison of Mean Scores of Male and Female Adolescents on Personality & Suicide ideation Psychopathological Dimensions
* Significant .05, (1.96)
** Significant 0.01, (2.59)
The application of ‘t-test’ of significance reveals that male and female adolescents differ significantly on the measures of suicidal ideation, neuroticism a measure of personality, stressful life events, anxious depression (D4), a measure of depression and on psychopathic deviation (Pp), (reported by CAQ). It can be noted that female adolescents have scored significantly higher on the measures of suicidal ideation, neuroticism, stressful life events and anxious depression (D4), whereas male adolescents scored significantly higher on the measure of psychopathic deviation (Pp). It suggests that female adolescents presently have more psychological impairment in terms of higher suicidal ideation, neuroticism, stressful life events and anxious depression (D4), whereas male adolescents have more psychological impairment on psychopathic deviation (Pp).
Further an examination of Table 4.1 reveals that significance gender differences on the measure of suicide ideation (t = 2.72, P<. 01, df 398), neuroticism (t = 5.91, P<. 01, df 398), stressful life events (t = 3.83, P<. 01, df 398), anxious depression (t = 4.02, P<. 01, df 398) and psychopathic deviation (t = 3.51, P< .01 df 398). The difference between male and female adolescents on the measure of hopelessness approaching the level of significance P< .05, (t = 1.86 df 398). The measures of general psychosis (Ps), Euphoria (D5) and Schizophrenia (Sc) having the ‘t’ values 1.59, 1.18, and 1.07 respectively and do not cross the accepting level. Some other measures having the ‘t’ value less than one, i.e. Depression (BDI), psychoticism, hypochondriasis (D1), Zestfulness V/s suicidal disgust (D2), brooding discontent (D3), Guilt and resentment (D6), bored depression (D7), paranoid (Pa) and Psychasthenia (As).
It may be noticed from the present investigation that the measures of depression (BDI), psychoticism, hypochondriasis (D1), brooding discontent (D3), Guilt and resentment (D6), bored depression (D7), paranoid (Pa) and Psychasthenia (As) having very low ‘t’ values. There is no gender difference on these measures, whereas male and female adolescents differ at some extent on the measures of general psychosis (Ps), euphoria (D5) and schizophrenia (Sc).
The present study confirmed the earlier studies that women have more psychological impairment than do men, Cochrane & Stopes Roe (1980, 1981), Weissman & Klerman 1977, Garrison et.al. (1993); Garrison et al. (1991); Lewinsohn et al., (1993, 1994). These findings provide some encouragement for examining gender differences experimentally using the twin strategies of clinical and normal individual differences research.
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