Predictive Variables of Young People’s Willingness to Help People at Risk of Suicide

• Published in: Trends in Psychology Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 186 - 205
• Main Authors: Bezerra, Viviane Alves dos Santos, Camino, Cleonice Pereira dos Santos, Galvão, Lilian Kelly de Sousa, Sampaio, Leonardo Rodrigues
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.03.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Age groups; Behavior; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Empathy; Hypotheses; Investigations; Original Article; Psychology; Suicides & suicide attempts; Variables; Young adults; Brazil; Young people; Jovens; Jóvenes; Oferta de ayuda; Empatia; Suicidio; Empatía; Help offer; Empathy; Oferta de ajuda; Suicide; Suicídio
• ISSN: 2358-1883; 2358-1883
• DOI: 10.1007/s43076-021-00108-9

This article aimed to investigate the predictive variables of young people’s willingness to help people at risk of suicide. Participated in study 490 Brazilian young people (359 females, M age = 23.61 years old; SD  = 3.30, range 18–29). They answered a sociodemographic and psychosocial questionnaire, the Suicide Helpfulness Scale (SHS), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC–SDS). Spearman correlation, Mann–Whitney, and Kruskal Wallis coefficients were used for data analysis. The results showed positive and significant associations between empathy, willingness to help, and social desirability. There were also significant differences in willingness to help according to participant’s scores on level of empathy, sex, age group, exposure to suicide, and the degree of proximity to someone who committed suicide. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis showed that empathy and degree of proximity were the only significant predictors of willingness to help people at risk for suicide. These findings point to the importance of promoting empathy in suicide prevention programs aimed at the young population.