Social support and problem-focused coping skills can protect Asian international students against the effects of stressful life events on suicide ideation.
Suicide is known to be a significant public health issue among young people, especially university students. In Australia, suicide is unfortunately the leading cause of death in people aged years 15-44 years (Australia Institute of Health and Welfare, 2022). Stressful life events have been identified as risk factors for suicidal ideation in students. However, little research has explored the extent to which such events constitute a risk for suicidal ideation in Asian international students living in Australia. Even fewer studies explore the variables that moderate the relationship between stressful life events and suicidal ideation in this group.
Suicide ideation refers to the desires, thoughts and making of plans for suicide (Joiner et al., 2003; Klonsky et al., 2016). University students are likely to be more suicidal as compared to the general population. A South African survey found that 15.2% of university students reported having suicide ideations, 6.8% reported a suicidal plan and 6.3% had attempted suicide (Owusu-Ansah et al., 2020).
International students - those who travel to Australia for study - are likely to be at a greater risk for suicide ideation. Due to their exposure to stress connected to living abroad, Asian international students are more likely to have suicide ideation (Yang & Clum, 1995), feel hopeless about their future (Yang & Clum, 1994) and are at a greater risk of dying by suicide, compared to their domestic counterparts (Joiner, 2005).
There is little known about the roles of social support and problem-focused coping on stressful life events and suicide ideation among Asian international students. This study aimed to address this issue in two parts. First, by exploring whether stressful life events, loneliness, campus connectedness and problem-focused coping skills were associated with suicide ideation in Asian international students studying in Australia.
Second, the team examined the extent to which the relationship between stressful life events and suicidal ideation for this population was moderated by loneliness, campus connectedness and problem-focused coping skills.
A survey was conducted with 138 Asian international students studying in universities across Australia. The students came from different countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The survey asked students about their levels of suicide ideation, stressful life events, loneliness, campus connectedness and coping skills.
The results showed that suicide ideation is associated with stressful life events, loneliness, and campus connectedness. In an optimistic way, being less lonely, feeling connected to one’s university campus and equipping oneself with problem-focused coping skills can provide support against stressful life events and suicide ideation. This means for Asian international students who lack social support (that is, they feel very lonely and disconnected to their campus), those with greater levels of social support, feel less suicidal even when dealing with a high level of stressful life events.
Similarly, for Asian international students who use less problem-focused coping skills, those who use more problem-focused coping skills feel less suicidal even when dealing with a high level of stressful life events.
More research of a longitudinal type is needed to explore whether loneliness, campus connectedness and coping styles predict varying degrees of suicidal ideation. However, this study sheds some light on protective factors of suicide for Asian international students. When universities offer social-networking activities such as camping trips, coffee clubs and movie nights, these help Asian international students to feel less isolated and help them to foster cohesion and a sense of belongingness.
The researchers found that helping students to develop problem-focused coping skills can be beneficial for their well-being as well as navigating through life’s daily hassles. Taken together, this study offers hope to suicide prevention strategies for this vulnerable population.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00050067.2022.2148514