Relations between suicidal ideation, self esteem and social support in a sample...

• Author(s): Teixeira, Alexandre ; Oliveira, Alexandra ; Santos, José Carlos Pereira dos
• Date: 2014
• Origin: Repositório Científico da Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra
• Subject(s): Suicide prevention; Prostitutes; Suicidal ideation
• Document Type: Other
• Language: English

Description

Introduction Studies aiming to know the prevalence of suicidal behaviors and their relation to self esteem and social support in street female prostitutes are scarce are almost nonexistent. Method The research took place in the three major cities of Portugal: Oporto, Coimbra and Lisbon. For the prosecution of the objectives we used the following instruments: The Social Support Questionnaire 6 (SSQ6); The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES); The Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ); and a semi-structured interview. This interview addresses women's suicidal behavior history and experience in prostitution. Results The results we obtained suggest that there is a correlation between suicide ideation and self esteem r=-.443, p<.001 as well as a correlation between suicide ideation and perception of social support available r=-.307, p<.01. For suicide ideation the existence of children t(27.7)=-2.26, p<.05, sexual victimization t(77)=-2.46, p<.05 and a mental health diagnosis t(77)=- 2.21, p<.05, seem to be a risk factor. Discussion The results we obtained, allow us a better understanding of the dynamics between self esteem, social support and suicide ideation in an urban sample of female street prostitutes, which may help in the intervention with this population, when concerned to suicidal behaviors, as well with social support networks and self esteem promotion strategies.