Exploring Risk and Protective Factors of Suicidal Ideation: The Influence of Hopelessness and Religiosity

Background: Suicidal ideation is a rising mental health problem in adults particularly in their early and middle adulthood. Studies indicate that hopelessness is an important factor that leads to suicidal ideation and that religiosity plays a protective role. The understanding of these variables as used in suicidal ideation can contribute to the prevention strategies. Purpose: The authors sought to find out how hopelessness and religiosity are related to suicidal ideation in adults aged 18 to 40 years. Procedures: It was a cross-sectional correlational study. The number of adults of the general population (N = 100) aged between 18 and 40 years was randomly sampled to recruit 100 adults. Suicidal ideation, hopelessness and religiosity were measured using standardized self-report questionnaires. The data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation to establish how the variables under study are correlated and the strength of the correlation. Results: The results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between hopelessness and suicidal ideation; in other words, the more hopelessness was the higher the suicidal ideation. On the other hand, religiosity had a strong negative correlation with suicidal ideation which suggests that suicidal ideation is a protective factor. These findings are in line with the previous evidence that hopelessness is a psychological vulnerability and religiosity is an enhancing resource of resilience. Conclusion; The study concludes that hopelessness and religiosity are risk and protective factors in suicidal ideation in adults. Mental health interventions aimed at reducing the risk of suicide among the adult population should target hopelessness cognitions and integrate spiritual or religious coping strategies to reduce the risk of suicide.