‘Plue plun’ male, ‘kath klei’ female: gender differences in suicidal behavior as expressed by young people in Cambodia

Figures & data

Table 1. Codes and subthemes related to suicide-prone plue plun males.

Quotes from focus-group discussions	Code	Sub-themes	Theme
Young men are materialistic, want cell phones, motorbikes etc., don't think about the future, play truant	Materialistic young men Carefree young people	Over-indulgent
… demand money, lie to parents, miss classes, do what they want (plue plun), peer-based suicide-prevention program may help young people	Delinquent youth Positive-peer influence	Delinquent	Delinquent suicide-prone male
… take drugs, no critical thinking, decide too quickly (plue plun), commit suicide due to serious problems	Impulsive youth Self-destructive youth	Suicidal
… are over stimulated (plue plun), outside-influences like internet-pornography flow into our country, get involved in love-affairs	Other culture influenced Acting-out male	Plue plun
… drive fast … like gangsters, too drunk to control themselves, get in to fights, don't listen to parents	Aggressive, impulsive youth Rebellious youth	Aggressive	Acting out
… prefer modern lifestyle, steal money, and commit robbery, when love fails girl lose hope, boys die of excitement and girls of disapointment	Novelty-seeking youth ‘Boys die of excitement’	‘Boys die of excitement’

Table 2. Codes and subthemes related to kath klei suicidal females.

Quotes from focus-group discussions	Code	Sub-themes	Theme
Women are looked down upon in Cambodian society when they have male friends, have no freedom to choose career, are forced to marry by parents	Inferior women Voiceless at home	Voiceless
… cannot do anything they want, men go out, visit ‘karaoke’, go travelling, women do not have these rights	Denial of rights Bias against women	Tradition bound	Tradition bound, voiceless female
When parents do not give us freedom, do not respond to our requests … it is lack of thoughtfulness (kath klei) to kill oneself … rather than study hard to become good citizen	Controlling parents Suicide-leads to freedom from oppression	Gendered culture
Young women are short-sighted (kath klei), young men rarely commit suicide when they have done wrong, women upset … overdose or hang themselves	Short-sighted women Vulnerable women	Vulnerable female
Idea of killing self is not being thoughtful, women think superficially (kath klei) when committing suicide	Kath klei Suicide vulnerable women	Kath klei	Kath klei suicidal female
… are inferior, when problems occur, young women, unlike men, who find comfort in the bottle, will shed tears, broken-hearted	‘Men find solace in the bottle, women in tears’	‘Women die of disappointment

Figure 1. Codes and sub-themes related to negotiating for space with and in the family.

Figure 2. Gender differences in suicidal behavior as expressed by young people in Cambodia.