Suicide Ideation: the Role of Gender and Coping Strategies

Suicide, the endpoint of the continuum that begins with suicide ideation, is an important precursor of attempted suicides. The purpose of this study was to investigate sex differences in suicide ideation as well as the coping strategies used by university students. The convenience sample was drawn from first year psychology students at Fort Hare University (East London Campus). The Positive and Negative Suicidal Ideation Scale (PANSI), and The Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ) were administered. The results of this study show that of the sample (N= 131), PANSI NI showed that (7.6%) of respondents had thought that their problems were so overwhelming that suicide was seen as the only option for them. The male (N=33) and female (N=98) T- tests results on suicide ideation indicated that males implement active coping and withdrawal coping while females deal with their problems by using an internal coping strategy.