Self blame, anxiety and depression as determinants of suicidal ideation among tertiary students with recent history of abortion

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine self-blame, anxiety and depression as determinants of suicidal ideation among tertiary students with recent history of abortion. The study adopted a quantitative method of analysis using an ex post facto research design for data collection from 202 individuals. Three hypotheses were developed from the literature review and tested using multiple regressions and correlation matrices. Results showed that selfblame (r=0.69, p<.05), Anxiety (r=0.43, p<.05) and Depression (r=0.27, p<.05) have positive significant correlations with suicide ideation among tertiary students with history of abortion. Also, self-blame, anxiety and depression jointly predicted suicide ideation among tertiary students with traumatic experiences of abortion at [R2=0.638; F (3,199) =35.70; p<.05]. Further analyses show that self-blame (ß=-.312, t=-2.29, p<.05), anxiety (ß=.121, t=3.01, p<.05) and depression (ß=-.005, t=.050, p<.05) also had significant independent influence on suicide ideation among tertiary students with history of abortion. Family type, level of study and length of past abortion experience jointly predicted suicide ideation among tertiary students with traumatic experiences of abortion at [R²= 0.068; F (3,199) =5.396; p<.05]. However, only level of study was an independent predictor of suicide ideation among tertiary students with traumatic experiences of abortion at (ß=-.379, t=-4.143, p<.05).The results showed that the predictive relationship of self-blame, anxiety, depression on suicide ideation among female tertiary students with recent history of abortion experiences cannot be treated with kids’ gloves. This finding and the additional findings that depression, anxiety, and self blame are also independently predictive of suicide ideation among college students have important clinical implications for suicide assessment and prevention. It was recommended that suicide prevention programs, counseling centers, and psychology clinics on college campuses should include suicide attitudes such as depression, anxiety, and self-blame in their assessment and identification of individuals who may be at risk for engaging in suicide behavior.