Influential Path of Social Risk Factors toward Suicidal Behavior—Evidence from Chinese Sina Weibo Users 2013–2018

Yujin Han, He Li, Yunyu Xiao, Ang Li and Tingshao Zhu
Additional contact information
Yujin Han: Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
He Li: Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Yunyu Xiao: Silver School of Social Work, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
Ang Li: Department of Psychology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Tingshao Zhu: Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: (1) Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine suicidal risk factors, the relationship and the underlying mechanism between social variables and suicidal behavior. We hope to provide empirical support for the future suicide prevention of social media users at the social level. (2) Methods: The path analysis model with psychache as the mediate variable was constructed to analyze the relationship between suicidal behavior and selected social macro variables. The data for our research was taken from the Chinese Suicide Dictionary, Moral Foundation Dictionary, Cultural Value Dictionary and National Bureau of Statistics. (3) Results: The path analysis model was an adequate representation of the data. With the mediator psychache, higher authority vice, individualism, and disposable income of residents significantly predicted less suicidal behavior. Purity vice, collectivism, and proportion of the primary industry had positive significant effect on suicidal behavior via the mediator psychache. The coefficients of harm vice, fairness vice, ingroup vice, public transport and car for every 10,000 people, urban population density, gross domestic product (GDP), urban registered unemployment rate, and crude divorce rate were not significant. Furthermore, we applied the model to three major economic development belts in China. The model’s result meant different economic zones had no influence on the model designed in our study. (4) Conclusions: Our evidence informs population-based suicide prevention policymakers that incorporating some social factors like authority vice, individualism, etc. can help prevent suicidal ideation in China.

Keywords: suicidal behavior; social media; path analysis model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2604/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2604/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2604-:d:511214

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().