Department of Community Mental Health, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; Department of Psychology, College of Management, Rishon LeZion, Israel.
School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
J Affect Disord. 2024 Jun 1;354:19-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.02.087. Epub 2024 Feb 27.
The global COVID-19 pandemic rapidly and drastically impacted everyday life and relationships. Fear of contracting and spreading the virus brought governments and individuals to adopt strict social distancing measures. These changes have had a significant negative impact on mental health, including a suggested increase in suicidal behaviors. The present study examined the role of interpersonal stress and connectedness in suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, suicide attempts, and the suicide crisis syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An international sample of 7837 adult participants was recruited across ten participating countries to complete an anonymous online battery of self-report questionnaires. Questionnaires assessed suicide-related outcomes, stressful life events (SLE), and connectedness. Multilevel regression analyses were used to examine the associations between SLE and connectedness on suicide-related outcomes within the past month.
Interpersonal SLEs and low connectedness were associated with an increased likelihood of suicide-related outcomes and increased severity of suicide crisis syndrome. Specifically, higher rates of SLEs and lower levels of connectedness were associated with more suicide-related outcomes.
The use of a cross-sectional design and snowball sampling method may restrict the ability to establish causal relationships and limit the representativeness of the findings.
Our findings suggest elevated suicide-related outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals experiencing multiple interpersonal stressful life events and low connectedness with others. The circumstances of social life during the COVID-19 pandemic highlight the urgency of implementing preventive programs aimed at mitigating potential suicide risks that may arise in the aftermath of public stress situations.
全球 COVID-19 大流行迅速而剧烈地影响了日常生活和人际关系。对感染和传播病毒的恐惧促使政府和个人采取严格的社交隔离措施。这些变化对心理健康产生了重大负面影响，包括自杀行为增加的说法。本研究探讨了人际压力和联系在 COVID-19 大流行期间自杀意念、蓄意自我伤害、自杀企图和自杀危机综合征中的作用。
在十个参与国家招募了一个由 7837 名成年参与者组成的国际样本，以完成匿名在线自我报告问卷。问卷评估了与自杀相关的结果、生活压力事件 (SLE) 和联系。使用多层次回归分析来检验 SLE 和联系与过去一个月内与自杀相关的结果之间的关联。
人际 SLE 和低联系与自杀相关结果的可能性增加以及自杀危机综合征的严重程度增加有关。具体而言，SLE 发生率较高和联系程度较低与更多的自杀相关结果相关。
使用横断面设计和滚雪球抽样方法可能会限制建立因果关系的能力，并限制研究结果的代表性。
我们的研究结果表明，在 COVID-19 大流行期间，经历多种人际压力生活事件和与他人联系较少的个体自杀相关结果增加。COVID-19 大流行期间社交生活的情况突显了实施旨在减轻公共压力事件后可能出现的潜在自杀风险的预防计划的紧迫性。
