Is religiosity a protective factor against attempted suicide: a cross-cultural case-control study

Arch Suicide Res. 2010;14(1):44-55. doi: 10.1080/13811110903479052.

Abstract

This cross-cultural study investigates whether religiosity assessed in three dimensions has a protective effect against attempted suicide. Community controls (n = 5484) were more likely than suicide attempters (n = 2819) to report religious denomination in Estonia (OR = 0.5) and subjective religiosity in four countries: Brazil (OR = 0.2), Estonia (OR = 0.5), Islamic Republic of Iran (OR = 0.6), and Sri Lanka (OR = 0.4). In South Africa, the effect was exceptional both for religious denomination (OR = 5.9) and subjective religiosity (OR = 2.7). No effects were found in India and Vietnam. Organizational religiosity gave controversial results. In particular, subjective religiosity (considering him/herself as religious person) may serve as a protective factor against non-fatal suicidal behavior in some cultures.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attitude to Health / ethnology*
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Cultural Characteristics*
  • Estonia / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Iran / epidemiology
  • Religion and Psychology*
  • Self Concept*
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Spirituality*
  • Sri Lanka / epidemiology
  • Suicide, Attempted / ethnology*
  • Suicide, Attempted / psychology