Individualism-Collectivism, Social Support, Resilience and Suicidal Ideation among Women with the Experience of the Death of a Young Person

BACKGROUND: Grief involves a set of emotions, thoughts and behaviors that people experience when faced with a lack or threat of loss. This study was conducted to evaluate the suicidal ideation among women with experience of the death of a young person and assessed the predictive role of individualism-collectivism, social support, and resilience in suicidal ideation. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from March to August 2016 through recruitment of 146 breaved women from Gilan-e gharb (the west part of Iran). Data gathering instruments included Individualism-Collectivism Questionnaire, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC), and Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS-22. RESULTS: The findings showed that among women, 48 percent had suicidal ideation (scores above 6). The results of Pearson correlation showed that there were significant negative relationships between suicidal ideation (P<0.05) and factors such as collectivism (r=-0.286), family support (r=-0.558), support from friends (r=-0.307), support from significant others (r=-0.617), social support (r=-0.561), and resilience (r=-0.457). The results showed that individualism - collectivism, social support, and resilience correctly predicted 73.5% of women with suicidal ideation and 83.3% of women without suicidal ideation. CONCLUSION: We concluded that higher collectivism, social support, and resilience in the bereaved women can lead to a reduction in suicidal ideation. Therefore, psychologists and counselors can provide the necessary background to strengthen supportive issues and the use of resilience-based interventions among bereaved women.