Attitudes Toward Suicide Among Chinese People in Hong Kong

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568 Attitudes Toward Suicide in Hong Kong TABLE 1 Endorsement of Suicide Under Difficult Sociodemographic Profile of Respondents Life Scenarios Sociodemographic characteristics n % The likelihood of respondents considering suicide under hypothetical difficult life Gender Male Female Age (years) 15–25 26–50 51–75 Marital Status Single 667 530 503 410 229 636 55.7 44.3 44 35.9 20.1 52.7 scenarios is shown in Table 4. There were six scenarios with mean scores higher than 2 (probably not consider suicide). In descending order of the mean score, they were, namely, “being terminally ill,” “having a chronic psychiatric illness,” “being severely depressed,” “being a burden to others and feeling hopeless about the future,” “being heavily in- Married 570 47.3 debted because of gambling,” and “not hav- Education ing anyone to provide financial or emotional Primary or below 166 14.0 support in old age.” The six mean scores of Middle School 233 19.7 the same six scenarios were also significantly High School Tertiary or Above Religion Christianity Buddhism or Taoism Others None Employment 254 529 192 217 12 805 21.5 44.8 15.7 17.7 1.0 65.7 lower than 3 (probably consider suicide). This suggests that respondents’ general inclination toward suicide in the hypothetical scenarios is not strong. Multivariate logistic regression on how sociodemographic variables relate to consideration of suicide in hypothetical scenarios shows that females (OR = 1.4) were Working 736 62.1 significantly more likely than males to con- Nonworking 40 3.3 sider suicide. Older respondents (51–75 years) Students 410 34.6 were more likely to consider suicide (OR = Occupation Professional Administrative Skilled Nonskilled Personal monthly income Less than US$641 US$641–US$1,282 US$1,283 or above 134 190 112 600 576 396 250 12.9 18.3 10.8 57.9 47.1 32.4 20.5 2.3) than the youngest age group (below 25 years). Respondents who had suicidal ideation (OR=2.3) were also more likely to consider suicide. The likelihood of considering suicide in hypothetical scenarios was compared to respondents’ report of suicide ideation and attempt. Among the respondents who reported that they would be “very likely to consider” or would “definitely consider” suicide less negative appraisal of suicide than females, they showed less sympathy toward suicidal people and less agreement that suicide had instrumental functions such as revenge. They were also less likely to differentiate suicide attempt from completed suicide. Nega- tive appraisal and fatalistic view of suicide decreased with age. Respondents who were in at least one hypothetical scenario, a substantial proportion had thought of suicide (20.8%) or had attempted suicide before (3.3%). Those who did not consider suicide seriously in the hypothetical scenarios were less likely to report suicidal thought (4.7%) or suicide attempt (1.3%). married, less educated, working, or believers in Buddhism or Taoism were less negative DISCUSSION and fatalistic about suicide. More educated respondents and more skilled workers were Diversity of Attitudes Toward Suicide more likely to disagree that suicide is related The biased sampling notwithstanding, to social change. the present study revealed a diversity of atti- 494
Lee et al. 569 TABLE 2 Factor Analysis of Attitudes Toward Suicide Overall (36.1% of variance, alpha = 0.852) Loadings Factor 1 (Negative Appraisal: Negative appraisal of suicide) 6.2% of variance, alpha = 0.394 47. Suicide is a stupid act. 0.675 10. Suicide is a totally irresponsible act. 0.628 65. Suicide is an extremely timid act. 0.624 36. Suicide can be a respectable act.* 0.587 41. The suicide has a very selfish personality. 0.552 7. Suicide can sometimes be a responsible act.* 0.535 24. Suicide is a rational act.* 0.511 52. Suicide deserves sympathy from others.* 0.456 15. Suicide can sometimes be a courageous act.* 0.44 27. Suicide reflects a person’s low self-esteem. 0.418 12. Suicide is frustrating to others. 0.365 18. Suicide is a betrayal to friends and families. 17. Under most circumstances, we should not stop terminally ill people from committing 0.406 suicide.* 0.363 Factor 2 (Stigma: Stigmatization of suicide) 5.8% of variance, alpha=0.735 58. Most people are afraid to develop relationships with those who have suicidal acts. 0.689 5. Most people would avoid a person who attempted suicide. 0.637 38. Most people would avoid the family of the suicide. 0.589 46. People who had suicidal acts are disliked by others. 0.583 49. Family members of the suicide live with shame for the rest of their lives. 0.564 62. Suicide is carried out by primitive people. 0.432 35. The major intention of the suicide is to influence others. 0.388 50. Once someone has decided to commit suicide, it is difficult to change his/her mind. 0.385 21. People who attempt or commit suicide are impulsive. 0.37 44. Everyone dislikes the act of suicide. 0.366 Factor 3 (Suicidal Spectrum) 4.5% of variance, alpha = 0.693 32. Attempted and completed suicides share the same causes. 0.634 53. Attempted and completed suicides have similar intentions. 0.645 11. Attempted and completed suicides have similar personalities. 0.624 61. Attempted and completed suicides have similar intention to die. 0.539 16. Attempted and completed suicides suffer from similar levels of psychological stress. 0.522 13. The suicide adapts to daily life poorly. 0.417 68. Attempted and completed suicides can both achieve their goals via suicide. 0.352 Factor 4 (Fatalism: Fatalism towards suicide) 4.2% of variance, alpha = 0.566 33. Suicide cannot be prevented. 0.666 9. The causes of suicide are beyond the control of people who commit suicide. 0.454 6. Suicide happens without previous warning. 0.613 39. Mental health promotion cannot reduce suicide. Factor 5 (Social change: Acknowledging the relationship between social change 0.443 and suicide) 3.8% of variance, alpha = 0.623 59. Long-term negative events represent the major cause of suicide. 0.538 34. A person commits suicide because he/she cannot solve his/her own problems. 0.502 37. There has been a steep rise in suicide following the Asian economic crisis. 0.487 73. Negative equity is the major cause of male suicide in Hong Kong. 0.486 72. Terrible spousal relationships easily lead to homicide followed by suicide. 0.422 60. The close connection between suicide and societal change is unalterable. 0.383 31. Unexpected life events constitute the major cause of suicide. 0.362 495
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Attitudes Toward Suicide Among Chinese People in Hong Kong

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