MARITAL STATUS AND RELIGION AS PREDICTORS OF SUICIDE IDEATION IN JOS NORTH LGA OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed the influence of marital status and religion on suicidal ideation in residents of Jos North LGA of Plateau state. Eight hundred and ten participants made up of 444 males and 366 females with mean age of 28.7 years, and standard deviation of 11 years participated in the study. The Beck and Steer Suicidal Scale (BSS) (1991) was used to obtain data to test two hypotheses using the ANOVA statistic. The said hypotheses were that marital status would have significant effect on suicidal ideation, and religion would have significant effect on suicidal ideation. Test results for hypothesis one showed that single participants did not experience suicidal ideation more than those who are married or separated with means; 2.57, 2.00, 1.82; F (1, 799) = 1.175, p = 0.309 (p >.05). Similarly, the test results of hypothesis two revealed that religion had no significant effect on suicidal ideation, with means 2.17, 2.67 and 1.00 respectively for Christians and Muslims and others, F (1, 799) = 0.963, p = 0.382 (p>.05) Based on these findings, it was recommended researchers need to explore the roles of marital status and religion on suicide ideation.