Volume 22, Issue 85 (8-2022)
refahj 2022, 22(85): 271-300 |
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Research code: 033/الف/99
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mehri K. (2022). Meta-analysis of suicide studies in Iran. refahj. 22(85), 271-300.
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-3915-en.html
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-3915-en.html
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Introduction: Suicide is referred to as any kind of death that is a direct or indirect result of the positive or negative action of the victim himself, who personally knew that he should achieve the same result. (Durkim, 1999 p. 18). The purpose of this study is to investigate the meta-analysis of published articles on the factors affecting suicide. Due to the fact that issues related to the consequences of suicide in our society are broader than other issues since the volume of research in the field of social sciences and psychology has not been allocated to suicide research. The same small volume; each of the studies, variables, methods and examples have chosen different and sometimes inconsistent with each other; therefore, they have encountered different results. Scattering, diversity, and divergence in suicide research results may lead to the notion that suicide research is a waste of money, and that there is a risk that research studies in this non-scientific field will become “costly” or “inexpensive.” In order to prevent this, it seems necessary to use meta-analysis.
Method: The method of the present study is meta-analysis. In the present study, attempts have been made to evaluate the magnitude of the effect of the variables affecting suicide in the west and northwest of Iran with a comprehensive and systematic review and meta-analytical method. In this regard, the results are calculated, compared, and combined in the form of “effect size” statistics, which is an objective, uniform, and comparable indicator and it is an estimate of the effectiveness of effective variables. The method used in this paper is a meta-analytic method. The materials used include all available studies that have studied attempted suicide. The analysis unit also refers to any research that has effective variables of suicide attempt that meet the criteria for selection and entry into meta-analysis. Criteria for selecting studies are: 1- The study has focused on attempted suicide and related topics; 2- The study has evaluated the variables affecting suicide attempt (review and non-experimental studies have not been considered), 3- The study should be experimental or quasi-experimental with a control group or have a comparison of pre-test and post-test values. Correlation studies structural models have also been investigated and at least one of the effective variables has been measured.
Findings: The results of the present study show that in general, the identified independent variables have been found to be effective on suicide. The value of the combined effect is 0.408 (d = 0.408), and it is statistically significant. Since this value is in the range of 0.8 to 0.5, it is considered average according to the Cohen’s classification.
The combined results of all the research studies are given in Table 2. The value of Q statistic (223,903) with a degree of freedom of 36 is significant (P = 0.000), which indicates that the size of the effects is heterogeneous. Therefore, meta-analytic experts recommend using the results of the stochastic effect model and investigate the reasons for this heterogeneity. The effect size of the random effect model is equal to 0.408 (d = 0.408), which is also statistically significant (5.209 Z = P = 0.000). In fact, the answer to this question is “positive” based on the research findings. In other words, it can be said the value more than 95% statistical certainty indicate that the identified variables are effective on suicide and its impact rate is 508, which is moderate in terms of size.
Discussion: The results show that research on suicidal ideation based on a theoretical model is more effective in suicide than research on suicidal ideation. Higher family differences, lower self-esteem, and lower family cohesion affect self-efficacy. In fact, cases with higher family disputes and forced marriages are accompanied by lower self-esteem, lower family cohesion, and significantly higher chances of suicide. The highest effect size for the variables of higher family disputes with 82%, sudden and forced marriage with 85%, lower self-esteem with 84%, low family cohesion with 95% indicates the mentioned variables and other variables having a high effect size.
The meta-analysis result showed that the relationship between gender variable and suicide was significant at the level of 0.0001. One of the factors that is different in men and women is their biological status. In this regard, female sex hormones and the menstrual cycle show a significant aspect of this difference. Most cases of suicide attempt in women are associated with higher rates of mood disorders, emotional and other biological and psychological variables. Evidence shows that the high rate of suicide attempts among young Iranian women has several reasons: engaging in a vicious cycle of social humiliation, economic dependence, family insecurity, fear for life and children, embarrassment and lack of self-confidence, and lack of systems. Social advocacy is one of the reasons that increase the likelihood of suicide in this group. It was directly cited as a major cause of suicide.
Self-immolation is the most common form of suicide among girls and women. By doing so, they want to scare those around them and make them aware of their desires. However, most of them die from burn injuries and the family suffers from mental health problems. Self-immolation and taking pills and toxins are two prominent examples of suicide committed by women. Forced marriages, unemployment, and the rising age of marriage are particular issues that lead women and girls to commit suicide.
The results of hypothesis 6 test show that unemployment and economic instability are effective as macro-level variables of suicide. Among the macro-level variables affecting suicide are poverty and income inequality, but the most important factor that fuels the aforementioned is macro-level economic instability, which itself provides the ground for unemployment. Durkheim also mentioned in his book Suicide. In this study, the unemployment rate is the effect size of EsrQ = 0.50. Poverty and unemployment are among the items that can encourage a person to commit an act such as suicide.
When poverty and unemployment are combined with economic pressures and rising inflation, they create a combination that leads to rising suicide rates. Unemployment not only causes short-term problems and disruptions in a person’s life, but also increases uncertainty in predicting a person’s future income, resulting in a decrease in a person’s lifetime income. In addition, unemployment can increase mental or physical disorders, which in turn will increase the likelihood of suicide.
Ethical considerations
All authors contributed in designing, running, and writing all parts of the research.
Conflicts of interest:
This article does not conflict with other articles.
Introduction: Suicide is referred to as any kind of death that is a direct or indirect result of the positive or negative action of the victim himself, who personally knew that he should achieve the same result. (Durkim, 1999 p. 18). The purpose of this study is to investigate the meta-analysis of published articles on the factors affecting suicide. Due to the fact that issues related to the consequences of suicide in our society are broader than other issues since the volume of research in the field of social sciences and psychology has not been allocated to suicide research. The same small volume; each of the studies, variables, methods and examples have chosen different and sometimes inconsistent with each other; therefore, they have encountered different results. Scattering, diversity, and divergence in suicide research results may lead to the notion that suicide research is a waste of money, and that there is a risk that research studies in this non-scientific field will become “costly” or “inexpensive.” In order to prevent this, it seems necessary to use meta-analysis.
Method: The method of the present study is meta-analysis. In the present study, attempts have been made to evaluate the magnitude of the effect of the variables affecting suicide in the west and northwest of Iran with a comprehensive and systematic review and meta-analytical method. In this regard, the results are calculated, compared, and combined in the form of “effect size” statistics, which is an objective, uniform, and comparable indicator and it is an estimate of the effectiveness of effective variables. The method used in this paper is a meta-analytic method. The materials used include all available studies that have studied attempted suicide. The analysis unit also refers to any research that has effective variables of suicide attempt that meet the criteria for selection and entry into meta-analysis. Criteria for selecting studies are: 1- The study has focused on attempted suicide and related topics; 2- The study has evaluated the variables affecting suicide attempt (review and non-experimental studies have not been considered), 3- The study should be experimental or quasi-experimental with a control group or have a comparison of pre-test and post-test values. Correlation studies structural models have also been investigated and at least one of the effective variables has been measured.
Findings: The results of the present study show that in general, the identified independent variables have been found to be effective on suicide. The value of the combined effect is 0.408 (d = 0.408), and it is statistically significant. Since this value is in the range of 0.8 to 0.5, it is considered average according to the Cohen’s classification.
The combined results of all the research studies are given in Table 2. The value of Q statistic (223,903) with a degree of freedom of 36 is significant (P = 0.000), which indicates that the size of the effects is heterogeneous. Therefore, meta-analytic experts recommend using the results of the stochastic effect model and investigate the reasons for this heterogeneity. The effect size of the random effect model is equal to 0.408 (d = 0.408), which is also statistically significant (5.209 Z = P = 0.000). In fact, the answer to this question is “positive” based on the research findings. In other words, it can be said the value more than 95% statistical certainty indicate that the identified variables are effective on suicide and its impact rate is 508, which is moderate in terms of size.
Discussion: The results show that research on suicidal ideation based on a theoretical model is more effective in suicide than research on suicidal ideation. Higher family differences, lower self-esteem, and lower family cohesion affect self-efficacy. In fact, cases with higher family disputes and forced marriages are accompanied by lower self-esteem, lower family cohesion, and significantly higher chances of suicide. The highest effect size for the variables of higher family disputes with 82%, sudden and forced marriage with 85%, lower self-esteem with 84%, low family cohesion with 95% indicates the mentioned variables and other variables having a high effect size.
The meta-analysis result showed that the relationship between gender variable and suicide was significant at the level of 0.0001. One of the factors that is different in men and women is their biological status. In this regard, female sex hormones and the menstrual cycle show a significant aspect of this difference. Most cases of suicide attempt in women are associated with higher rates of mood disorders, emotional and other biological and psychological variables. Evidence shows that the high rate of suicide attempts among young Iranian women has several reasons: engaging in a vicious cycle of social humiliation, economic dependence, family insecurity, fear for life and children, embarrassment and lack of self-confidence, and lack of systems. Social advocacy is one of the reasons that increase the likelihood of suicide in this group. It was directly cited as a major cause of suicide.
Self-immolation is the most common form of suicide among girls and women. By doing so, they want to scare those around them and make them aware of their desires. However, most of them die from burn injuries and the family suffers from mental health problems. Self-immolation and taking pills and toxins are two prominent examples of suicide committed by women. Forced marriages, unemployment, and the rising age of marriage are particular issues that lead women and girls to commit suicide.
The results of hypothesis 6 test show that unemployment and economic instability are effective as macro-level variables of suicide. Among the macro-level variables affecting suicide are poverty and income inequality, but the most important factor that fuels the aforementioned is macro-level economic instability, which itself provides the ground for unemployment. Durkheim also mentioned in his book Suicide. In this study, the unemployment rate is the effect size of EsrQ = 0.50. Poverty and unemployment are among the items that can encourage a person to commit an act such as suicide.
When poverty and unemployment are combined with economic pressures and rising inflation, they create a combination that leads to rising suicide rates. Unemployment not only causes short-term problems and disruptions in a person’s life, but also increases uncertainty in predicting a person’s future income, resulting in a decrease in a person’s lifetime income. In addition, unemployment can increase mental or physical disorders, which in turn will increase the likelihood of suicide.
Ethical considerations
All authors contributed in designing, running, and writing all parts of the research.
Conflicts of interest:
This article does not conflict with other articles.
Type of Study: orginal |
Received: 2021/06/23 | Accepted: 2022/06/7 | Published: 2022/08/8
Received: 2021/06/23 | Accepted: 2022/06/7 | Published: 2022/08/8
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