Department of Psychology, Florida State University, PO Box 3064301, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, PO Box 3064301, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2022 Feb 1;298(Pt A):248-255. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.065. Epub 2021 Oct 30.
Social support has been identified as a protective factor against suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Research has not conclusively identified the component of social support most implicated in suicidal thoughts and behaviors: (1) frequency of social contact or (2) closeness of relationships. This study examined the relationships between these facets of social support and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in two nationally representative samples, as well as subsamples with social anxiety disorder (SAD).
Study 1 variables for lifetime and past-year suicide ideation and attempt, social contact frequency, and closeness were calculated and examined within the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R). Study 2 examined the independent contributions of social contact frequency and closeness to only lifetime suicide attempt in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III).
In the NCS-R, lower social closeness but not contact frequency was uniquely associated with suicidal ideation and attempt in the general sample and those with SAD. In the NESARC-III, both components of social support were associated with lifetime suicide attempt in the general sample, while only social closeness was uniquely associated with suicide attempt in the SAD subsample.
This study utilized cross-sectional data and was limited in the validity and specificity of the variables assessed.
Lower social closeness was more strongly associated with suicidality than social contact frequency and merits attention as a potential target for suicide-related interventions. Social closeness may be especially relevant in populations experiencing high rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors and decreased social support.
社会支持已被确定为预防自杀念头和行为的保护因素。研究尚未明确指出与自杀念头和行为最相关的社会支持组成部分：（1）社会接触的频率或（2）人际关系的亲密程度。本研究在两个全国代表性样本中以及伴有社交焦虑障碍（SAD）的样本中，检查了社会支持的这些方面与自杀念头和行为之间的关系。
研究 1 在国家共病调查-复制（NCS-R）中计算并检查了终生和过去一年自杀意念和尝试、社会接触频率和亲密程度的变量。研究 2 仅在国家酒精和相关条件流行病学调查-III（NESARC-III）中检查了社会接触频率和亲密程度对终生自杀尝试的独立贡献。
在 NCS-R 中，社会亲密程度较低而不是接触频率与一般样本和伴有 SAD 的样本中的自杀意念和尝试具有独特的相关性。在 NESARC-III 中，社会支持的两个组成部分都与一般样本中的终生自杀尝试相关，而在 SAD 子样本中，只有社会亲密程度与自杀尝试具有独特的相关性。
本研究使用了横断面数据，评估的变量在有效性和特异性方面受到限制。
社会亲密程度与自杀意念的相关性比社会接触频率更强，值得关注，因为它可能是与自杀相关干预的潜在目标。在自杀念头和行为发生率高且社会支持减少的人群中，社会亲密程度可能尤为重要。
