Abstract:
Suicide ideation among adolescent all over the world has assumed an alarming dimension. It has become so worrisome that it has gained prominence in social discourse. The prevalence rate of suicide among adolescents in different parts of the world gives room for concern. Despite these researches, factors that predict the occurrence adequately investigated in this part of the world. This study therefore investigated the psychological factors as correlates of suicide ideation among undergraduates in Lagos State. A descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study. Two hundred and fifty participants were selected through simple random sampling from five faculties within the University of Lagos State. Their ages ranged between 19 and 24 years with mean of 22.40 years (SD= 4.19). Three structured questionnaire; Hopelessness Scale (?=0.87), Perceived Stress Scale (?=0.86), and Self-Esteem (?=0.77), were used to collect data. The findings revealed that there was significant positive relationships between perceived stress (r = 0.338**, p < 0.05) hopelessness (r = 0.385**, p > 0.05); self-esteem (r = 0.359**, p > 0.05) and suicide ideation among the participants. The three variables jointly accounted for 10.1% variance in predicting suicide ideation among the participants. The independent variables made positive relative contribution to suicide ideation in the following order: Perceived stress contributed most to the prediction of suicide ideation among undergraduate students in University of Lagos (? = 0.345, t = 50.077, p < 0.05) followed by self-esteem (? = -0.037, t = 1.224, p < 0.05), hopelessness (? = -0.020, t = -.308; p < 0.05) had relative contribution to suicide ideation. Based on this finding, it is recommended that students should be exposed to stress management and self-esteem boosting training as a strategy for curbing suicide ideation. Parents should bridge up the communication gaps in their relationship with their young adults.
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