Predictors of Suicidal Ideation Among Police Personnel

Abstract

Suicidal ideation is the first warning sign of more serious suicidal behavior. Suicide ideation constitutes but one aspect of suicidal behavior, and is defined as the domain of thoughts and ideas about death, suicide, and serious self-injurious behavior. The present investigation was planned to study predictors of suicidal ideation among police personal. The sample for the study consisted of 202 police personnel (head constable=125, inspector=77) who aged between 24 and 58 years. The subjects were assessed with Neo- Five Factor Inventory, Scale for Suicide Ideation, Occupational Stress Index, and Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Data were processed by correlation and regression analysis. The results revealed that suicidal ideation is significantly associated with personality, occupational stress, and coping among police personal. Step-wise regression analysis identified three predictors of suicidal ideation, i.e., unreasonable group and political pressures, positive reappraisal, and escape avoidance. The results of step-wise regression analysis revealed that the linear combination of unreasonable group and political pressures, positive reappraisal, and escape avoidance account for significant proportion of variance (15%) in suicidal ideation among police personnel.

Keywords: Suicidal Ideation, Personality, Occupational Stress, Coping.

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