Suicidal Ideation among a Sample of Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Suicide is a growing public health problem all over the world. It may be ranked as one of the major leading cause of death among college and university students. Against this background, this study explored the influence of perfectionism and academic stress on suicidal ideation among medical students. Purposive and simple random techniques were used to select a total number of 296 students (105 males: 191 females) from Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos State. The age of the participants ranged from 17 to 30 years (Mean=21.50, SD=2.52). Three hypotheses were formulated and tested with Multiple Regression Analysis. Results showed that perfectionism had no significant influence on suicidal ideation. However, it was revealed that academic stress had a significant prediction with suicidal ideation. In the same direction, perfectionism and academic stress had significant and joint prediction on suicidal ideation. Therefore, it is recommended that in order to address academic stress that can induce suicidal ideation among medical students, government in collaboration with school management should develop, implement and monitor psychological programs aimed primarily at alleviating academic stress among students and especially among medical students.