An Exploratory Study of the Relationship between Sense of Belonging, Psychological Distress and Suicidal Behaviour among Vincentian Secondary School Students

• Main Author: Kimmette Robertson
• Other Authors: Yi-Jung Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/96883219049865353150

碩士 === 亞洲大學 === 心理學系 === 104 === Suicide has increased tremendously among young people aged 10-24 years, making it one of the leading causes of mortality within this population and a major health concern. Most recently, this increase has not only been observed in larger developed countries in North America and Europe, but also in smaller developing or low- and middle- income countries such as St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Within the Vincentian context, several findings highlight the potential role of connectedness or belonging in Vincentian adolescents’ suicidal behaviour. Moreover, research has evidenced a relationship between social or interpersonal factors and indices of psychological distress across several English-speaking Caribbean countries. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the relationship between sense of belonging, psychological distress and suicidal behaviour among Vincentian secondary school students. A total of 111 secondary school students, ages 14 to 19 years, were drawn from Forms 1 through 5 in five schools across the island. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire including: Sense of Belonging Instrument- antecedents subscale, Sense of Belonging Instrument- psychological subscale, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale and Suicidal Behaviour Questionnaire- Revised. Findings indicated that sense of belonging (psychological) was significantly negatively related to suicidal behaviour. Further, psychological distress fully mediated this relationship between belonging and suicidality. Based on these results, implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.