This study examined factors influencing elderly suicidal ideation. In an effort to make specific approaches, this study examined the effects of population-social factors, psychological factors (perceived burdensomeness, hopelessness), and social support (family, friends, community support), among various factors related to elderly suicidal ideation, on elderly suicidal ideation. Particularly, the relationship between perceived burdensomeness, an elderly psychological factor, and suicidal ideation was examined. And what roles psychological factors (perceived burdensomeness) and social support (family, friends, and community support) play in the process of elderly hopelessness influencing suicidal ideation was also examined.
In this study, the independent variables are population-social factors (gender, age, education level, religion, marital status, family relations, health conditions, and economic satisfaction), social support (family, friends, community support), and psychological factors (perceived burdensomeness, hopelessness), and the dependent variable is suicidal ideation.
In this study, the questionnaires collected from the surveyconducted on 269 male and female elderly people aged 65 and over living in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk region were used, and for measurement tools, a total of 15 subordinate measure questions of perceived burdensomeness from the population-social factors (gender, age, education level, religion, marital status, family relations, health conditions, and economic satisfaction), Beck’s SSI (Scale for Suicide Ideation), MSPSS (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support), and INQ-R (Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire Revised) were used. And BHS (Beck Hopelessness Scale) was also used.
The verified results of this study are summarized as follows.
First, the results of the analysis of the effects of elderly population-social factors on elderly suicidal ideation showed that differences according to gender, age, religion, and marital status were not significant but differences in suicidal ideation according to education level, family relations, health conditions, and economic satisfaction were significant.
Second, the results of the analysis of the effects of elderly social support (family, friends, and community support) on elderly suicidal ideation showed that suicidal ideation had negative correlation with family support and friend support, but had no significant correlation with community support.
Third, the results of the analysis of the effects of elderly psychological factors (perceived burdensomeness, hopelessness) on elderly suicidal ideation showed that perceived burdensomeness and hopelessness all had significant positive correlations.
Fourth, the results of the analysis of what roles psychological factors (perceived burdensomeness) and social support (family, friends, and community support) will play in the process of elderly hopelessness influencing suicidal ideation showed that psychological factors (perceived burdensomeness) moderated the relationship between hopelessness and suicidal ideation. This explains that the higher the hopelessness, the higher the perceived burdensomeness are, the higher the suicidal ideation. On the other hand, moderation roles of social support (family, friends, community support) were found to be not significant in the process of hopelessness influencing elderly suicidal ideation.
This study has significance in that the factors directly influencing elderly suicidal ideation were identified in an effort to approach our country’s serious social problem of elderly suicides, and that the elderly suicidal ideation was approached in the psychological aspect. Particularly, the results of the analysis of the perceived burdensomeness which is a psychological factor presented in Joiner(2005)’s interpersonal relations theory, on which not many researches have been conducted, showed that perceived burdensomeness influenced elderly suicidal ideation and played a moderation role in the process of hopelessness influencing suicidal ideation. Accordingly, the relationships between the psychological factors, perceived burdensomeness and hopelessness, and suicidal ideation were verified, and it was indicated that these factors were important factors in elderly suicidal ideation.