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Social support tied to recovery from suicidal thoughts among Indigenous people
Social support, older age and education were just some of the factors associated with recovery from suicidal ideation among Aboriginal peoples living off reserve in Canada, according to a study published in Archives of Suicide Research.
Prior research has indicated a higher prevalence of suicide among Indigenous peoples in Canada; however, findings from a nationally representative Canadian study showed that 75% of formerly suicidal Indigenous adults who were living off-reserve had been free from suicidal thoughts in the past year, according to a press release.
"It was encouraging to discover so many formerly suicidal Aboriginal peoples were no longer seriously considering suicide, but with one-quarter of respondents still having these thoughts, there remains a dire need for improvements,” Rose Cameron, PhD, professor at University of Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, and an Anishinaabekwe elder, said in the release. “While it is encouraging that recovery rates are high, there are many policy changes that could hasten better outcomes for Aboriginal peoples who are vulnerable.”
The investigators reported factors associated with being free of serious suicidal thoughts for the past year in a nationally representative sample of 2,680 Aboriginal individuals living off reserve in Canada. Using Pearson chi-square and logistic regression analyses, they compared participants who had been suicidal in the past year to those who were no longer suicidal.
The results revealed that recovery from suicidal thoughts was higher among women and older individuals as well as individuals who were food secure, spoke an Aboriginal language, had a high school degree, had a confidant, and had no prior diagnosis of mood disorders or learning disability.
According to the release, individuals who had least one person to support them in times of need were more likely to recover from suicidal thoughts in the past year compared with those who were socially isolated (77% vs. 61%). Indigenous individuals with at least a high school degree were more likely to be in recovery from suicidal ideation than those who had not completed high school. The findings also showed that each decade of age was linked to a 17% higher chance for recovery.
"We were dismayed to learn that one-quarter of formerly suicidal Indigenous adults reported that they had been hungry at some point in the last year but could not afford to purchase food. It isn't surprising that those who were so destitute were twice as likely to still be suicidal compared to those who had money for food," first author Esme Fuller-Thomson, PhD, professor at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and director of the Institute for Life Course & Aging, said in the release. "As a nation, we have an urgent responsibility to eradicate this devastating impoverishment." – by Savannah Demko
Disclosure: Healio Psychiatry was unable to confirm any relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.