Psychological strains and youth suicide in rural China

The strain theory of suicide postulates that suicide is usually preceded by psychological strains. A strain can be a consequence of any of four conflicts: differential values, aspiration and reality, relative deprivation, and lack of coping skills for a crisis. This study, with a blend of psychiatri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 72; no. 12; pp. 2003 - 2010
Main Authors:	Zhang, Jie, Wieczorek, William F., Conwell, Yeates, Tu, Xin Ming
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2011 Elsevier Pergamon Press Inc
Series:	Social Science & Medicine
Subjects:	Adaptation, Psychological Adolescent Adult Adult and adolescent clinical studies Asian cultural groups Aspiration Aspirations, Psychological Behavioural psychology Biological and medical sciences Case-Control Studies China China Psychological autopsy Psychological strains Suicide Culture Mental disorder Youth Gender Chinese culture Conflict, Psychological Coping Coping strategies Cultural conflict Culture Deprivation Female Gender General aspects Humans Male Marital Status Marriage Medical sciences Mental disorder Mental disorders Mental Disorders - complications Mental Disorders - psychology Mental illness Mental stress Miscellaneous Peoples Republic of China Postulates Poverty - psychology Proxy Psychological aspects Psychological autopsy Psychological effects Psychological strains Psychological theories Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry Psychopathology. Psychiatry Public health. Hygiene Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine Relative Deprivation Religion Religions Religiosity Rural Areas Rural Health Skills Social sciences Strain Theory Stress, Psychological - complications Stress, Psychological - etiology Stress, Psychological - psychology Suicide Suicide - psychology Suicides & suicide attempts Theory Well-being Young Adult Young women Youth Asia China Psychological strains China Mental disorder Youth Psychological autopsy Gender Suicide Culture Human Rural environment Psychology Sex Autopsy Adolescent Social medicine Cultural aspect Public health
ISSN:	0277-9536, 1873-5347, 1873-5347
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	The strain theory of suicide postulates that suicide is usually preceded by psychological strains. A strain can be a consequence of any of four conflicts: differential values, aspiration and reality, relative deprivation, and lack of coping skills for a crisis. This study, with a blend of psychiatric and social predictors of suicide, identified correlates of suicide that are relevant to Chinese culture and tested the strain theory of suicide with Chinese data. We sampled 392 suicides and 416 living controls (both aged 15–34 years) from 16 rural counties in China in 2008 and interviewed two informants for each suicide and each control. We found that marriage and religion/religiosity did not distinguish the suicides from the living controls among Chinese rural young women. Religion/religiosity tended to be stronger for suicides than for controls. Psychological strains in the forms of relative deprivation, unrealized aspiration, and lack of coping skills were significantly associated with suicide, even after accounting for the role of mental illness. The strain theory of suicide forms a challenge to the psychiatric model popular in the West, at least in explaining the Chinese suicide. ► One of the largest psychological autopsy studies in the world. ► Blend between psychiatric and social predictors of suicide. ► Theory testing with data from China. ► Marriage and religiosity are not protective factors of suicide in rural China. ► The strain theory of suicide as a challenge to the psychiatric model.
Bibliography:	SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 14 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2
ISSN:	0277-9536 1873-5347 1873-5347
DOI:	10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.03.048