SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIOUR AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN RELATION TO ACADEMIC STRESS AND SOCIAL SUPPORT

Abstract

Suicide among students is increasing nowadays, making them the highest population who commit suicide. Suicide cases among students are major in local and all over the world. This study aims to identify the suicidal thoughts and behaviours in relation to academic stress and social support among university students at University ABC. A quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional research design have been used to collect data from 496 students in the target population through an online survey adapted and adopted from the previous study and shows a high-reliability value and gets validation from the previous study the expert. The result of the current study provides empirical evidence on key issues related to suicidal thoughts and behaviour among university students. Findings show that social support has a moderate and negative relationship between suicidal thoughts and behaviour (r = -0.412). Meanwhile, academic stress has a weak and positive relationship between suicidal thoughts and behaviour (r = 0.222). This study also proves that suicidal thoughts and behaviour significantly affect social support (r2=0.175) and academic stress (r2= 0.081). In conclusion, this research gives clear directions on the rate of suicide among university students to the stakeholders, the ministry of higher education, and especially to ABC University to overcome suicidal thoughts and behaviour among university students. As well as parents could acknowledge their child’s feelings and tell them that they are there to help if they express thoughts about death or suicide.