Hope and its relation to suicidal risk behaviors among Malaysian adolescents

• Main Authors: Choon, Min Wai, Abu Talib, Mansor, Yaacob, Siti Nor, Tan, Jo Pei, Awang, Hamidin, Hassan, Sallahuddin, Ismail, Zanariah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Center of Science and Education 2014
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37879/1/37879.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37879/; http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/view/37286

Suicide is an epidemic issue worldwide and Asian countries are of no exception. In Malaysia, adolescent suicide constituted 10% of the overall reported suicide cases. Aforementioned, the current study examines Snyder’s theory of hope to understand suicidal risk among Malaysian adolescents. A total of 1441 adolescents were recruited using a multistage cluster sampling. Results showed significant relationship between both agency and pathway thinking with risk of suicidal behavior. Specifically, only agency thinking uniquely predicts adolescents’ suicidal risk in a regression model. Adolescents with higher motivation towards accomplishing a goal or plan have lower risk engaging in suicidal behaviors. Thus, suicide prevention focusing on increasing hope is significantly important. Limitations were discussed in the study.