The association between suicide risk and self-esteem in Japanese university students with major depressive episodes of major depressive disorder

Nobuyuki Mitsui; Satoshi Asakura; Yusuke Shimizu; Yutaka Fujii; Atsuhito Toyomaki; Yuki Kako; Teruaki Tanaka; Nobuki Kitagawa; Takeshi Inoue; Ichiro Kusumi

doi:10.2147/NDT.S59349

The association between suicide risk and self-esteem in Japanese university students with major depressive episodes of major depressive disorder

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2014 May 15:10:811-6. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S59349. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan.
² Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan ; Health care center of Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan.
³ Department of Clinical Social Work, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido School of Nursing and Social Services, Tobetsu, Ishikari, Japan.

Abstract

Background: The suicide risk among young adults is related to multiple factors; therefore, it is difficult to predict and prevent suicidal behavior.

Aim: We conducted the present study to reveal the most important factors relating to suicidal ideation in Japanese university students with major depressive episodes (MDEs) of major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: The subjects were 30 Japanese university students who had MDEs of MDD, and were aged between 18 and 26 years old. They were divided into two groups - without suicide risk group (n=15), and with suicide risk group (n=15) - based on the results of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Additionally, healthy controls were recruited from the same population (n=15). All subjects completed the self-assessment scales including the Beck Depression Inventory 2nd edition (BDI-II), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and SF-36v2™ (The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form health survey version 2), and they were all administered a battery of neuropsychological tests.

Results: The RSES score of the suicide risk group was significantly lower than the RSES score of the without suicide risk group, whereas the BDI-II score and the BHS score were not significantly different between the two groups. The mean social functioning score on the SF-36v2 of the with suicide risk group was significantly lower than that of the without suicide risk group.

Conclusion: The individual's self-esteem and social functioning may play an important role in suicide risk among young adults with MDEs of MDD.

Keywords: quality of life; self-esteem; suicide risk; young adults.